Chapter 25.

A/N:

Okay I just have to take this time to thank everyone who reviewed/favorited this story. You guys are seriously so freaking sweet/awesome/amazing and your kind words/gestures mean so so much to me, so THANK YOU. I hope everyone enjoys the happy ending as much as I enjoyed writing it (to all the worriers- see, I kept my promise!), and I'm just grateful that I can share my copious amounts of Finchel love with all of you.

...

(moments later).

They were in their own little world. Oblivious to the fact that they were making out in the rain. When they finally broke apart Rachel couldn't help but giggle freely and look up at the grey sky.

"Let's get you inside," Finn laughed, taking her hand and pulling her in the warm condo.

He led her into the bedroom, still holding her hand tightly. She shivered slightly upon entering and seeing the unmade mattress.

She wasn't sure if she was shivering from the cold, the happiness, or the desire, but Finn rubbed his hands along her arms protectively, trying to warm her up.

"I'm okay," she said softly, placing one of her small hands lightly over his gargantuan one, "I just need to get out of these wet clothes."

The right side of Finn's mouth raised as he quirked one of his adorable crooked grins.

"I think we can arrange that," he said throatily, taking a wet strand of hair and tucking it behind her ear.

Rachel felt herself get lightheaded as he bent down to kiss her again. This time the kiss was softer, sweeter, less urgent, as if he was trying to make it last as long as possible.

A forceful warmth began to grow in the core of her body as she deepened the kiss, effectively replacing any coldness she had been feeling.

She tried to savor every particle of the moment as she felt Finn slowly lift her cotton dress off her. His cold fingers left a trail goosebumps along the damp skin from her hips to the sides of her freed breasts. He was treating her like a fragile piece of china. Gripping his shirt tightly with both hands, she shoved her tongue into his mouth and tried to show him how not fragile she was. Enough with the teasing.

Finn let out a low chuckle into their kiss which vibrated into her mouth, before picking her up and moving her towards the mattress. Their lips never broke contact as he carried her and gently placed her against the sheets. Her eyes raked the planes of his naked, gorgeous chest as he removed his wet shirt in one swift movement. The joy that filled her when she realized that he was all hers, that they could do this and be together this way, until the end of time, was indescribable.

There was still so much more to say, so much more to plan and figure out, but it could wait. Because they needed each other now. They needed to express to each other physically how desperately essential they were to one another.

She let out an uncontrollable moan as Finn brought his lips across her face to suckle the bottom of her ear, his body covering her like the sexiest blanket in the entire world. As he moved his hands up and down her skin, touching her in all the right places, she surrendered herself to the familiar ecstasy of his big, hard body surrounding her, caressing her, loving her.

Finn groaned as his fingers felt her warm, wetness down there (which definitely wasn't the fault of the rain). Tremors wracked her body at the touch of his long, nimble fingers, and she let out a strangled cry that unbridled all of Finn's self-control. Kicking off his boxers, he literally growled as he pushed the barrier of her delicate lace underwear to the side and positioned himself at her entrance.

Rachel arched her back and let out another moan as she thrust her hips towards him, wanting more of him. He complied immediately, and brought his mouth back up to repossess hers as he grunted himself into her. Her head rolled back at the sensations of Finn moving inside her, barely aware of the noises coming out of her mouth as she faded into him.

...

Their damp bodies clung together like puzzle pieces that had found their way back again.

"Stay," she panted, putting her arms around his neck, "I like the feeling of you in me."

Finn breathed heavily as he groaned and let his head fall into the crook of her shoulder, slipping his arms under her back to support the both of them in their tight embrace.

Rachel smiled drunkenly at the feel of Finn's hot breath against the sensitive area below her ear and the lingering bond of their bodies.

"I love you," he murmured huskily, "so much."

She'd never tire of hearing him say that.

In her post-coital bliss she could only make one coherent thought.

This was where she belonged. With Finn.

She was home.

...

A couple hours later they had been forced to stop and fuel themselves. They had ordered chinese take-out and were eating out of the the little white boxes and failing miserably with the chopsticks in their little make-shift dining area on the wooden floor.

Finn had to keep reminding himself to eat because of the vision of the impossibly beautiful girl sitting in front of him, distracting him with her charm.

Rachel took a bite out of her spicy tofu (Finn had gotten that too because he remembered Rachel didn't like kissing him when she could taste meat on his tongue).

She chewed it thoughtfully before saying, "Yeah, there's definitely better Chinese in New York."

He pouted his lips to the side before joking, "Hmmm, has Rachel Berry become an East Coast snob?"

Rachel threw a piece of tofu at him (their less than enviable chopstick skills had already made the floor around them a total mess).

"Hey!" he shouted laughingly, reciprocating with a handful of rice.

"Watch it mister," she mockingly warned, "You'll see what I mean when we go back, I'll take you there."

He lifted an eyebrow delightedly.

"When we go back huh? That's a little presumptuous don't you think?"

Rachel blushed a little and became self-conscious, unaware that Finn was joking.

He pushed the food aside (there'd be more time for that later) and pulled her into his lap, bundling her up in his arms.

He placed his mouth near her ear and spoke softly, "Of course it's a we, I'm not allowing you go anywhere without me."

Rachel leaned her head diagonally to look at him.

"Are you sure? Because it was unfair of me to just presume that you have no responsibilities to attend to and that you could just drop everything to stay wherever I am. I mean, you can still go on your 'creative journey of self-discovery' or whatever while I film here, just know that I'll be waiting faithfully."

He put his finger to her mouth to hush her and shook his head no. He then captured her lips in a searing kiss to show her how that so wasn't an option.

"I don't think you heard what I said earlier," he whispered, after they broke apart, "I am going to be attached to your hip until you get so sick of me.."

"I could never get sick of you," she whispered in return, "I only get sick when you're not with me."

She snuggled into his lap and rested the back of her head against his chest, and they both stared at the rain shower pouring outside.

"I was actually planning on going to Lima," Finn offered quietly, "And I think I only wanted to go back there so I could feel closer to you without actually being with you. That place is so full of memories, locations where we made our stamp-"

Rachel smiled, before interrupting him.

"Like that huge oak tree by the river where we carved out our initials, or the tire swing in the big park.."

"Yeah," he grinned, "Like those.. But now that I have you, I'm not going anywhere."

"Well," she started suggestively, "Filming is scheduled to conclude in 4 months, and it seems a shame to waste that perfectly packed oversized pick-up truck.

He smiled at her, seeing where she was heading with this.

"Wherever you are, that's where I'm supposed to be. So whether you want to road trip to Lima or New York, or explore the world and take a vacation to Fiji, I'll be following. The great thing about writing is you can do it anywhere, anytime. And even if you couldn't, it wouldn't really matter. Because Rachel Berry is from now on my one and only priority. You're stuck with me. Because, well, you're my home, you know?"

Rachel looked at him knowingly with an inspired glint in her eye.

She placed a finger on his nose and flicked it playfully.

"Yes, I know exactly what you mean."

...

(the next morning).

Finn was woken up by the sound of a soft sigh on his chest. Lifting his eyelids blearily, his eyes were met with the most marvelous and wondrous sight anyone could ever imagine. Rachel Berry, sound asleep half on top of him, looking peaceful and ethereal.

Carefully disentangling himself from her, he crept out of bed and quietly shrugged on a white button up shirt and his previously stripped blue boxer shorts. He needed to get something out of his car.

When he returned, he was glad to see that Rachel had woken up yet. She was lying on her stomach on the side of the mattress, breathing softly.

He sat next to her before kissing her forehead softly in an attempt to rouse her, and taking her left hand in his. He watched as her long eyelashes fluttered open.

"Hey," she whispered, the disuse of her voice in the night making it hoarse and low and sexy.

"Hey," he smiled, "I have something to tell you."

She sat up a little and looked at him curiously, he hadn't let go of her left hand.

"Rachel, I don't want to do this dance anymore. I think I've known that you were the only girl for me from the first moment I sang Don't Stop Believin' With You all those years ago in Lima. That was the first time in my sorry life I felt I belonged right where I was. Obviously, I was the biggest moron of all time back then and too stupid to realize it, but I did know that you touched something in me, right here," he flattened his hand on the right side of his chest, grinning broadly at the memory, "And no one else, in all my 23 years of living, has ever touched me in that way again, and no one ever will. Besides you Rachel. Because my heart belongs to you, and only you. I'm pretty sure it was yours even before we sang together, hell, even before we met, because.. I just know with this deep conviction that we're meant to be together forever. So," he said, taking the delicate platinum ring with the glittering 3 carat princess cut diamond in the center out of his shirt pocket.

Rachel's mouth was open in a perfect O shape as she let him slide it up her ring finger as she sat breathless. It fit effortlessly.

"So why beat around the bush?" he continued, "You're the one. And I'm not even going to bother proposing to you because I'm that 100% positive that we were destined to be together."

She beamed at him, in that way that only Rachel Berry could beam, setting his heart ablaze with such a strong passion that their wasn't yet a word in the English Dictionary to properly describe it.

Pulling him down on top of her with his shirt collar, she kissed him strongly and deeply. She finally broke the kiss to whisper in his ear.

"Well I guess we're getting married then."

Finn's face broke in the widest smile that had ever spread across his face. He pulled the wrinkled white sheet over them as he proceeded lathering his fiancee with more kisses.

"In fact," he whispered between the kisses he was placing on her neck and pulse point, "I think we should elope," he finished deviously.

Rachel rolled over him assertively as she captured his lips again with hers.

"And wherever did you come up with that idea?" she whispered into his mouth, smiling playfully.

He put his hands around her waist and pulled her body tightly against him before gently placing his lips against hers.

"From my one true love," he replied hoarsely, staring at her intensely as he broke the light kiss.

...

Rachel laughed a little chokingly at his cheesy line. But somehow coming from him, it was just beautiful and perfect. She realized as the lump formed in her throat that she was about to start crying from happiness.

"I like the sound of that," she replied teary-eyed, snuggling on top of him so that all of the curves and valleys of her body meshed seamlessly with his, "Because this is it, you and me, right here, right now, forever."

"Yeah," Finn whispered a little mistily, kissing the top of her head firmly, "Exactly. This is it."

...

The End.