forever fades away

chapter 61

“Rach!” Maria ran up to her best friend and hugged her tightly. The two girls stood there for a few minutes before Isabel yanked them apart, “Stop hogging her Maria,” Isabel smiled down at Rachel and then wrapped her arms around her. 

“Okay enough of this feminine, ‘oh I missed you, tears and all that other girlie shit,’ Rachel it’s great to see you. Now we require food.” Michael said as he picked Rachel up in his arms and giving her a smacking kiss on her cheek. 

“That’s right Rachel, we missed you but we are starving,” Alex came up beside them and pulled Rachel into a tight embrace and kissed her cheek softly. 

“Damn! If only you guys were here earlier. I cooked a monster breakfast for Finn and I.” 

“Oh quit the teasing, the belly is rumbling now.” Alex pouted and they all laughed before making their way to the baggage claim area. 

“So what do you guys want to eat?” Rachel asked once they were all loaded into the truck. 

“Anything!” Maria spoke up first, prematurely of course. 

“Except, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and…uhm….” They all sighed dramatically. 

“Maria, seriously how many times do I have to tell you? You are never allowed to choose what we eat, we’d starve to death if we waited for you to decide,” Michael and Alex both laughed and then gave each other high fives for good measure. 

“Grow up!” Isabel and Maria screeched out. 

“Fuck it, I’m not waiting forever. You guys are getting burgers and fries and you’ll smile and be very happy about it. Got it!” Rachel said not really in the mood for them to go back and forth all day. 

“Yes mom.” They all mumbled out and Rachel turned and squinted her eyes at them, but ended up laughing at their innocent faces. 

“Let’s get this show on the road! We got a game to watch!” Michael piped in after a few minutes. 

After lunch they went back to Finn and Rachel's place. Michael and Alex made themselves comfortable on the couch, while Isabel and Maria were upstairs helping Rachel decide what to wear. 

“I have nothing to wear!” Rachel yelled out in frustration. Isabel and Maria looked at one another in confusion. They were after all standing in a room that was Rachel's closet. Not a small room either. It was filled to the max with clothes, shoes, handbags and jackets. They chalked it up to Rachel being nervous for tonight, which was understandable. 

“Rach you have a closet bigger than my bedroom at home full of clothes. Now, how about you have a seat on the bed and Maria and I will find you something perfect, okay?” Isabel asked softly. 

“Yes! That’s a perfect idea. But I don’t want to wear a shirt, make it jeans, but a cute pair. And a shirt, without sleeves…no with…no without…I…” Maria had to cut her off. 

“Rach! Calm down, we’ll take care of it,” Rachel just nodded and stepped out of the room. 

Why the hell was she so nervous? It was crazy. It was just another game. Somehow though it felt like so much more than that. Rachel closed her eyes and waited for Maria and Isabel to come out with her outfit. 

“Here you go!” Isabel said holding up a pair of faded hip hugger jeans, a tank top with the words ‘Basketball Star Girlfriend…Jealous?’ written across the front in red cursive letters. 

“It’s perfect! Thank you!” Rachel jumped up and snatched the clothes from her friends and ran into the bathroom to change. 

A few minutes later, Rachel was dressed, hair brushed, light makeup in place and shiny red tint lip gloss across her lips. She opened up the bathroom door and was greeted by her enthusiastic friends. 

“Don’t you look hot?!” Maria said with a smile across her face. 

“Thanks guys so much for everything.” Rachel smiled and looked around for her sneakers. 

“Ah Rachel?” Isabel asked as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. 

“Yeah?” 

“Where did you get that shirt from anyway? I think it’s hilarious but so fitting for you.” Isabel watched as a smile crept up on Rachel's lips. 

“Finn got it made for me. We were out somewhere and I was joking about how no one knew who I was and the next day he came home with it.” Rachel laughed at the memory. 

“That’s cute. So Rachel, how is everything going?” Isabel asked. She just wanted to make sure everything was good between them still. 

“Isabel, don’t worry. Finn and I are in it for the long haul.” Rachel clapped her hands together when she finally found her sneakers; they matched perfectly with her shirt, a little bit of red and a lot of white. 

“Good to hear. We were just worried that we got too involved and,” Isabel began to explain but Rachel cut her off immediately. 

“It’s over now. Finn and I are together so it’s okay,” Rachel smiled at her two friends motioning for them to follow her out of the room. 

“Besides,” Rachel started as they made their way down the hall. “I couldn’t be upset about it. I’m happier than I've ever been. Even when I was with Finn before we broke up I was so happy with him, but this is different. I guess in the back of my mind I was always afraid something would come between us. I was just waiting for it so I wasn't truly enjoying the experience of being in love with him.” Rachel tried to explain how she felt to the two girls. 

“Now though, I know that this is forever with him. I know that no matter what he'll always be there for me. Yeah, a small part of me panics in the middle of the night and reaches out for him. But he's always there. My heart knows it. It's my mind that needs to catch up.” Rachel smiled and the two girls nodded their heads in understanding. 

“Do you guys have plans for the future?” Maria asked. 

“Sure the house is being built and well I'm starting my own business.” 

“No, Rachel we mean like marriage, kids, minivans and all that good stuff.” Maria smiled. Rachel just blushed. 

“Uh, no we haven't talked about it. I mean we just got together a few months ago. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that or if he is,” she trailed off. She didn’t want to think about that right now. They had Finn's big game to get to. 

“Cut the bullshit, if he asked you, you know you'd say yes.” Maria smirked knowingly. A small smile turned into a big one as Rachel nodded her head in complete affirmation. She would love nothing more than to marry Finn and have his children. But it was too soon still. He hadn’t even brought it up. It didn't matter to Rachel, she would wait forever for him. 

“Finally! What the hell, weren’t you already dressed Rachel?” Michael asked coming to stand in front of the three girls. 

“Yes. Do you have a point?” Rachel challenged. 

“Nope. Ready?” Michael asked as he made his way towards the front door.