This is sort of where I saw We Are Broken going originally. So I wrote a quick one-shot. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

"Rachel Berry will you marry me?" Finn asked hopefully, bent down on one knee in front of Rachel.

She stared at him in horror as his proposal echoed through her mind. She saw the smile start to slide from his face.

"Rach? I um kind of need an answer."

"I need time to think about this Finn. This is a big decision and it can't be taken lightly." She prattled and the smile returned to his face.

"Alright! I love you. I'll see you tomorrow?" He kissed her lips with enthusiasm and then sauntered off the stage and out of the auditorium.

Rachel stared after him for a few moments before she heard a floorboard squeak behind her. She whipped around in surprise; she had thought she was alone. Her pulse quickened as Noah appeared from behind the curtains. He walked towards her, stopping about 10 feet away. She examined his face and saw that his eyes looked pained.

"Don't do it." His voice startled her from her examination.

She said nothing and he stepped closer and gripped her arms tightly.

"Don't marry him. Don't throw away your whole life for the first boy you loved." He said sharply. "There's a reason that most people don't marry the first person they loved Rach."

"Noah, I told him I needed time to think about it." She said as she stared into his angry hazel eyes.

"You don't need time to think about it. Finn just found out that what he's thought about his father is a lie. He's lost something important to him. He's only doing this because he doesn't want to lose you too." She shook her head at his words.

"That's not the only reason he asked me. He loves me Noah."

"If he loved you then he wouldn't try to trap you here Berry. And make no mistake he still has no plans on leaving Lima." He stared into her eyes and found something he clearly didn't like lurking there. "But if you're stupid enough to walk away from New York and Broadway for Finn then that's your decision."

He released her arms and turned to walk away from her. She stared after him desperately trying to think of something to say.

"I love him." She whispered.

She flinched when she saw his shoulders sag forward before turning back to her wearily. The look on his face seemed so sad and so old for his years. He sighed heavily before opening his mouth.

"Then say yes and become a housewife in Lima to a mechanic with 3 or 4 kids. Say yes to the mediocrity that you've been fighting against since you were in diapers. If that's the life that you want then say yes Rachel." He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders before glaring at her fiercely. "But I refuse to support it. I won't come to your wedding and I won't meet your kids. You will never see me again, because as far as I'm concerned the Rachel Berry I know and love won't exist anymore. If you marry him Berry then you're dead to me and anyone else who believes in you."

Through her tears she noticed him rubbing his eyes before he turned around and walked away from her. She sat on the edge of the stage and considered what he had said. Finn hadn't actually said that he expected her to stay in Lima with him but she knew that it was implied. It was why she hadn't given him an answer. She loved him and she wished that it was enough. But they had gotten back together with an expiration date in mind and now he was changing everything.

Rachel's eyes followed the path that Noah had taken out of the auditorium as she replayed his words in her mind. She didn't have a single doubt that he would never speak to her again. He understood her desire to leave Lima and make something of herself more than anyone. She wanted to be angry with him for acting so stubbornly, but she knew that he couldn't sit back and watch her give up. She hummed to herself in surprise as she processed that last thought. When had ending up with Finn equalled giving up? She thought over her relationship with Finn. It would make for a few interesting chapters in her authorised memoir later in life. But she couldn't imagine Finn being mentioned in later chapters. There wouldn't actually be a memoir if she stayed in Lima as Mrs. Rachel Hudson. Rachel smiled softly as she came to her conclusion.

She gathered her belongings and ran out to her car. Throwing her bag on the seat beside her, she buckled up and tore out of the parking lot. Pulling up in front of Finn's house she ran to the door. Stopping for a moment to take a breath she reached up and knocked on the door. When Carol opened the door Rachel smiled at her and asked if she could go up to Finn's room. When Carol nodded Rachel raced upstairs. Opening the door to his bedroom she leaned on the doorframe and smiled at her boyfriend.

"Rach? What are you doing here?" He smiled as he made his way over to her.

She stepped into his room and closed the door behind her.

"I can't marry you." She said and she watched as various emotions crossed over his face before settling on the one she had hoped for.

"Thank Cheesus." He said before dropping back onto his bed with some relief.

"I love you and I love us. But I don't want to marry you. And I don't think you want to marry me either Finn." She said as she lay on the bed next to him.

"I thought I wanted to marry you. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to. But then I got home and I started panicking. Rach I don't know what I want to do with my life." He said as he threaded his fingers through hers.

"This is weird right? We're both relieved that we're not going to marry each other." Rachel said with a giggle.

"Can you believe I proposed?" The two of them laughed until tears were in their eyes.

Rachel turned to Finn with real tears in her eyes a few moments later.

"Finn, I love you so much but..." she trailed off not knowing how to continue.

"But maybe we shouldn't be together anymore?" He said soberly. "I love you too Rach, but the relief of you saying no makes me wonder if, ya know maybe we aren't supposed to be together anymore."

Rachel nodded her head and moved up to cuddle at his side. Finn pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

"I'll always love you Rachel, but I'm Lima and you're New York. For the first time I'm kind of excited about that." He said thickly as she kissed him on the forehead and got up to leave.

"Me too." She closed the door behind her and smiled at Carol as she walked out the door.

She sat in her car and started to drive. She shouldn't have been so surprised when she ended up outside Noah's house instead of her own. Turning off the car she stared up at his house for a few moments before leaving the vehicle. She walked up the path and into the house without knocking. Removing her shoes she noted that only Noah's shoes were there. She walked up the stairs and knocked lightly on his door. She heard sniffling on the other side before a quiet 'come in'. Rachel opened the door and found a very broken Noah Puckerman, staring back at her in surprise from where he was laying on his bed.

"What are you doing here?" He said as he cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes.

She shook her head and crossed the room before lying next to him with her head on his shoulder. After a moment his shoulders relaxed and his arm wrapped around her. They lay like that in silence for awhile before Rachel broke the silence.

"I said no," She felt him stiffen beside her. "I said no and we broke up."

"Are you ok?" He asked as he brushed some hair out of her face, looking for tears.

"It was mutual, he was just as relieved as I was when I said no." She felt him relax and as he kissed her hair she felt the smile on his face as well.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"For what?"

"For fighting for me, when I was too blind to see what a mistake I was about to make," She settled closer to his side. "I might have been happy for a year or two but eventually I would've been miserable."

"I was a little uh harsher than I needed to be." He mumbled apologetically.

"Everything you said I needed to hear Noah."

"What decided it for you?" He asked curiously.

"I thought about what a great story Finn and I would be in my autobiography later in life. But I couldn't picture him past the first few chapters." She stopped when he snorted in laughter.

She looked up at him and stared into his hazel eyes before continuing.

"I couldn't imagine you not being in every chapter Noah. You said you wouldn't be a part of my life if I married him and it hurt so much to imagine it."

"It hurt like a bitch for me to say it." He said pulling her closer.

She hummed in agreement and wrapped her arms around his chest. She didn't need to look up at him to know he was smiling.

There it is. I might add an epilogue.