A Beautiful Brain

Chapter 32

It was a little past eight and Finn was a walking bundle of nerves right about now. This was gonna be it; the moment of truth, he was sure of it. Her could hear it in her voice, she was going to make a decision tonight and whatever that decision was, it would be final. 

Why did she have to come to him this morning, he wondered. She had to know this would make him crazy… this is probably just what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn’t even come. 

Then, the doorbell rang and Finn practically sprinted towards the front-door to open it. When he opened it, he was relieved to see Rachel standing there. 

“Rachel …”, Finn said, “Please come in”. Rachel stepped inside and Finn closed the door behind her. 

“Finn, when I told you that I wanted to talk to you… I can’t keep going like this”, Rachel said softly. “I… I have to do something. Y..you said that you wanted to be my friend… did you mean that, Finn?“, Rachel asked. 

Finn looked at Rachel for a second. What should he say? “I want to be more than just your friend, Rachel. I want to be the guy you wake up next to. I want to be the guy you go to when you need someone to talk to. I want to be the guy who grows old with you. But I realize that you may not want all that… so yes, if you want me to be your friend, I can be your friend.’ 

“We… we can’t be friends”, Rachel said and Finn could feel a lump starting to form in his throat. “I mean, how can I be friends with someone I care about so much? It’s just not possible to just be friends with you”, Rachel said. “Over the past weeks, a lot of people have given me advice on how to deal with this situation. A lot of friends and even a psycholist… and they all gave their opinions and their arguments. And then, less than an hour ago, I got the advice I needed from someone I didn’t even know. She said: you think too much… and I realized she was right. I have to go with what I feel and the only thing I know… is that I need you”, Rachel softly said, looking at the floor the whole time and now looking up to see Finn's reaction. 

Finn had a hopeful smile on his face. “I need you too Rach”, Finn said, breathing heavily. 

“I know it’s gonna take time to figure everything out, but I wanna try”, Rachel whispered. 

”Rachel … are you saying that you’ll try to forgive me?“, Finn whispered 

“I already did Finn ”, Rachel said as she looked him in the eyes. 

Finn couldn't possibly remain where he was anymore. He stepped forward and hugged Rachel tightly. “I’m sorry Rachel … I’ll never do anything to hurt you again”, Finn said emotionally. 

“I know you won’t”, Rachel said, holding onto Finn as if her life depended on it. Somehow, she knew she had made the right decision.