DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

Epilogue

The sky was endless above him as he looked out at the hills and valleys that spread out in front of him towards the horizon. Finn sucked in a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, letting it fill his lungs as a blissful calm settled over him. He could hear his other friends calling him from further down the trail and he paused, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up with him as he stared at the picturesque mountain views.

"Your legs are too long," complained Rachel, trailing behind almost everybody else except for Kurt, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else but the middle of the Appalachian trail with the rest of the glee club. They had arranged this trip right before graduation so they could have one final adventure with one another before they all went their separate ways in the fall. Some of the members of the group were more enthusiastic about the excursion than others.

"I have rocks in my designer boots," whined Kurt as he slumped over on a giant boulder on the side of the trail. Blaine rubbed his shoulders sympathetically and Rachel approached Finn with a light sheen of sweat on her brow. She wiped it away hastily as she joined Finn's side and he kissed her lips lightly as the sun beat down on them. She took a huge swig of her water bottle and sighed dramatically.

"Come on, you've been climbing stairs all your life, you can't handle a little mountain?" He joked as a pout pulled down her bottom lip.

"I thought we were going to see all 'ze states this summer," she said, trapping him with her wounded-doe eyes as he chuckled.

"I wanted to, but no one in the club was able to get a proper Spring Break because of us and I thought this might be a good way to make it up to them." He nudged her in the side and tried to get her to smile. "We have the rest of the summer to explore the States. I wanted to see Mike and Puck one last time before they headed to LA, and Quinn leaves for Boston in a few weeks." He sighed. "I'm glad that Kurt is coming with us to New York."

"Moi aussi," she said sweetly, "We are going to start contacting landlords about apartments in the city soon."

"Yeah," he said, looking around at the people who surrounded him; the friends he would never forget. Graduating high school was a bittersweet experience, he realized as he thought about the various roads his friends were about to take. For years they had been united by one goal, one dream, and now they were all branching off to start a new dream for themselves.

Holding Rachel close to his side, he diverted his focus from his friends to the petite girl in his arms. He might not know for sure what the future had planned for him, but he was ready to try new things and let New York shape his future for him. He was excited for Rachel to begin school, but he was also excited to try out different options for himself and make his own decisions. He was already looking into schools and different programs that he could apply to, and he wasn't letting his indecision control his life anymore.

With Rachel at his side, he was ready to accomplish anything.

"America is so beautiful," Rachel muttered under her breath as she stared out at the vast mountains and valleys that spread out around them. Some of their friends started to attack the trail once more, and they could hear Kurt groaning as Blaine practically dragged him back onto the path.

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," he agreed. "Not as beautiful as you are, though."

A bright blush erupted on her cheeks as she started to walk and catch up to the group. "Flattery will not get me to agree to sneaking into the woods with you tonight, Monsieur 'Udson." He laughed as she bounced off to walk with Kurt, giving him a prime view of her perfect ass as she walked away.

"You can't blame me for trying!"

"Well, Mountain Troll," Santana sneered, coming up behind Finn and walking next to him as Brittany chased butterflies into a bramble patch. "Looks like you and Frenchie are taking the 'happily ever after' route all the way to New York together."

"That's the plan," he said, noting the lack of snark in Santana's tone. She had been completely amicable to both Finn and Rachel ever since she had moved back to the states and even stopped calling Finn fat.

Most of the time.

"Well, what about you? No school, no job; what do you have planned for the fall, Tubs?"

Finn smiled. "Do I detect a hint of worry in your voice, Santana?" The Latina shifted her eyes back and forth, avoiding contact and trying to deny what Finn already knew to be true. She wasn't as heartless as she pretended to be most of the time.

"Well someone has to take care of Frenchie in the big city. That little cream puff is going to get eaten alive if you don't look out for her."

"Don't worry, Santana, I have everything planned." He said, watching as Rachel helped Kurt walk around an obstruction in the path. "The first few months will be a transition, but I'm going to be helping Rachel with her citizenship and applying to schools. I don't need to plan out every single day of the next four years to know that I'm going to be happy. I want to live my life to the fullest in New York, and figure things out as I go along."

She nodded her head, pleased with his answer. "That's cool, Finn. I'm happy for you guys." There was one more question she wanted to ask, however. The curiosity was killing her. "But if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you going to study when you get into school?"

Looking ahead at the one thing in his life that still inspired him, he closed his eyes and tried to picture his future. The only thing that stood out to him, the only thing that mattered, was that Rachel was by his side, no matter what kind of fantasy he tried to entertain. He saw summers in France and winters in Manhattan. He saw her name in lights and a proud smile on his face. He saw tiny little children with their mothers' dark eyes, counting to ten in French and eating little pain au chocolats in the park.

"Music," he answered, "education, business. I don't care what I study, I'll figure it out soon enough." With Rachel at his side, there was only one thing he really needed to learn. "There is one class, though, that I'm definitely going to take."

Santana shrugged, "Well, what is it?"

"What do you think?" He questioned with a smile and a soft wink as he left Santana behind and sauntered down the path towards Rachel. "French 101."

THE END

Thank you for staying with this story until the very end.

Au revoir, mes amis.