The Town Park

...

Rachel led Finn out to the park with the spaghetti she ordered for them, since that had seemed to be the popular dish of the night. "How about...over here?" she asked while pulling him over to a table. "It won't be a proper picnic, considering there is no blanket or anything, but we'll make do."

Finn glanced around the park as Rachel pulled him over to an acceptable place to sit. He sat down on the bench across from her and set their to-go containers of food in front of them. "This is kinda better than a blanket anyway." He said, thinking of how he always tended to make a mess when they ate on the ground. It was just harder for him because of his size. He took a bite of his spaghetti and grinned. "Damn, Breadstix rocks!"

"It does," Rachel agreed. "Though didn't you tell me once that their breadsticks actually sucked?" She shrugged and a big bite of spaghetti. "So Blaine seems really nice," she commented. "Kurt certainly seems to like him a lot."

Finn shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I was in a bad mood or something when I said that. Right now they seem pretty awesome." He took another bite of his food. "Yeah, Blaine's cool. I think I can trust him. And I guess as long as Kurt's happy then that's all that matters right?"

Still eating the yummy noodles, Rachel says, "Right. Dalton seems to be a lot better for him. I sorta wish he was back here in Lima with us, but his safety is more important, so I guess Dalton it is."

"Mhmm." Finn nodded in agreement and went quiet. After a moment he reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Now let's talk about you standing up to Karofsky. You gotta promise not to do that again, okay? I get that you want to defend yourself and stuff, but thinking about what he could do to you scares the hell out of me. I'm your boyfriend Rach, and I promise I won't let anything happen to you." He tried to let her know how serious he was. Finn would way rather have the shit beat out of him than someone lay a finger on Rachel. His mother had always taught him to be respectful to women, and he tried his best to do that everyday but when it came to the women he loved it brought on a whole new meaning. He would do everything in his power to protect Rachel.

Rachel winced slightly as Finn had accidently grabbed her injured hand, but she brushed it off. She was extremely touched by his concern, but she wasn't exactly sure she wanted protection. "I can take care of myself, Finn," she said hesitantly. "I'm touched that you want to protect me, really I am, but I'm a big girl," Rachel said with a weak smile. "And I'd feel terrible if you got hurt, just trying to protect me."

"I know you can take care of yourself, but you shouldn't have to put up with this kind of stuff." Finn told her, trying to get her to see where he was coming from. "I'm your boyfriend, Rach and it's my job to make sure you're safe. I'd rather take all the punches in the world then see you get hurt." he sighed. "I've already put you through enough in the past. I can't handle putting you through anymore pain. So I'm gonna do everything I can to prevent that." Finn ran his thumb over her hand gently. "I love you too much okay?"

Rachel smiled gently. "I love you too," she whispered. She closed her eyes and hummed happily at Finn's touch on her hand. "How's this," she decided. "We both just agree to not get in any fights? That way neither has to worry about the other getting hurt." Compromise wasn't her first option, but she obviously wasn't gaining any ground, and seeing him get hit for her sake would break her. Compromise was the only way for both of them to win.

Finn smiled softly. "I can't promise anything." he told her, because the chances of no more fights with Karofsky were slim and he knew lying pissed her off. "But I will try my hardest to stay out of trouble for you." Leaning across the table he caught her lips in a gentle kiss and chuckled as they pulled apart. "You taste like marinara sauce."

Rachel sighed, but said, "I suppose it's the best I'll get." She kissed him back and sighed again against his lips. She had missed this. All through break she had missed just cuddling with Finn and feeling his arms around her. The kiss ended all too soon for her liking, but when Rachel heard his next words, she covered her mouth in shock. "Oh gosh," she said frantically. "This is really embarrassing."

Finn laughed at Rachel's obvious embarrassment. "Hey, come here." He stood up from his side of the table and walked around, pulling her to stand with him. "I happen to like marinara sauce." he told her, leaning down to kiss her again. "Plus, anything tastes good on you."

"There is nothing wrong with marinara sauce," Rachel huffed. "But it's not fun to have it on your breath while your boyfriend kisses you." The last part of her sentence was cut off as his lips captured hers in another kiss. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him passionately back, entwining her fingers in his hair.

Finn grinned into the kiss. He was so damn happy with her it was crazy. He linked his hands together under her butt and lifted her off the ground so they were at the same height. He loved their height difference because he felt like he could protect her, and it was almost like Rachel was this tiny doll or something, as weird as it sounded. But it did tend to cause problems every now and then when they kissed, because leaning down that far for too long made his back hurt. When air became an issue Finn reluctantly pulled away from her lips, panting heavily. "We're never breaking up again." he said firmly. "Going more than a few minutes without kissing you is just not right." he pressed a few light kisses on her neck and the corners of her mouth.

Rachel let out a soft 'oh' of surprise as she felt herself being lifted up by her boyfriend, and wrapped her arms around his neck to support herself as she kissed him. She had never been one to need to date the school quarter back, but she had to admit it had its perks. Finn's arms were strong and muscular, and she always felt safe when she was wrapped in one of his warm embraces. She took a moment to catch her breath when he pulled away, closing her eyes and smiling as Finn placed light, delicate kisses along her face and the corners of her mouth. "Not breaking up sounds just fine," she murmered in between kisses.

Finn slowly back up a few steps so he could sit down on the picnic table bench while maneuvering Rachel into his lap. Much more comfortable, he decided. "So tell me, Rachel Berry- what's on your mind this evening? I want to know everything." And he did. He wanted to know everything about her: her thoughts, her dreams, her every want and desire... he just wanted to know find out everything possible about this girl that he loved so much.

Rachel snuggled into Finn's arms and rested her head on his chest. "Hm, what am I thinking of right now? Well, I'm thinking about a lot of things. Like Glee club and the Disney performances and how Mr. Schuster has not been in the past few days and how Regionals is coming up. I'm thinking about our recent meeting with Kurt and Blaine and how much I want to hit Karofsky. Also that my hand is irritating me. But I'm also thinking about how comfortable I am right now and what an amazing boyfriend I have."

Finn nodded and watched her speak, listening intently to her words. "Well, Mr. Schue will be fine. I'm sure once he gets some rest and medicine he'll be better than ever. And we are going to dominate Regionals. Kurt and Blaine are cool and stuff, but they're gonna have to settle for second place because we're winning it this year. And even though I don't want you too, I won't argue with the fact that Karofsky needs to be hit." taking her hand he kissed it gently. "Does that help?" he asked. "And for the record, your boyfriend is crap compared to my awesome girlfriend."

Rachel giggled as Finn kissed her hand. "My knight in shining armour," she teased. "It did help though. But you are far off the mark when you say I'm an awesome girlfriend. Even farther off when you say you're a crap boyfriend. But besides responding to my own thoughts, what are you thinking about?" she asked. She didn't want to hear about herself for once. Instead, she wanted to pick his brains and hear his thoughts on everything.

Finn sighed dramatically and paused for a moment. "I'm thinking about all kinds of stuff." he admitted. "Like, how happy I am right now, and how excited I am for Glee now that I know what I'm singing. And that cheesecake sounds really good right now, and the stars up there are like, unreal. And... the future." he said finally. "The future's been on my mind a lot lately too."

"Cheesecake, huh?" Rachel laughed. "That reminds me, we don't have dessert," she said with a pout. Rachel loved dessert. Tilting her head back, Rachel took a moment to admire the stars. "They are beautiful, aren't they," she remarked. "I'll be one one day. I'll be brighter than all of them." Rachel was completely and utterly determined to be the brightest star of them all. She would follow her dreams. "The...future?" She asked, brow furrowed. "What about it?"

"Yeah, that sucks. We can always stop on the way back and get ice cream!" Finn said excitedly. "Dairy Queen has that CheeseQuake Blizzard." he smiled down at her. "You already are Rach." When the topic of the future came up, Finn grew nervous. "Just.. all kinds of stuff. I dunno, I've kinda been thinking about what's gonna happen after high school and stuff. Y'know, making a plan sorta."

"Dairy Queen sounds good," Rachel agreed. She shrugged when he agreed with the star statement. "In Glee club, yes. It's a start." Rachel turned to look up at Finn. "What sort of plans?" she questioned, then poked his side. "C'mon, share with me!"

"Nooo!" Finn whined. "If I tell you then it might not come true. Plus, you'll probably be freaked out and hate me and then everything will be messed up..." The truth was, he was terrified of her response because most of his plans for the future involved her.