By two o'clock the next day Maria was getting ready to panic. She hadn't heard a word from Rachel and after a call to Isabel discovered that she was in the same exact situation. They didn't know if Finn and Rachel were still alive or if they were just busy making up. Maria was also anxious to drill Rachel on what had happened and find out if she knew anything about the engagement ring that Finn had bought her.

The sounds of her phone ringing interrupted her pacing 'Hello' she answered.

'Hi' Rachel said.

'Oh thank god, are you ok?' Maria asked.

'Of course I am, what did you think Finn had killed me or something?' she laughed.

'No, No of course not' Maria lied 'I was just worried because neither Isabel or I had heard from you' she told her.

'Well I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't ring you last night but by the time Finn and I finished talking for the night I was completely exhausted, in fact I only got up a couple of hours ago'

'Ok I'll forgive you this time, so?'

Rachel laughed 'So, I was ringing to see if you and Isabel wanted to go shopping for a few hours' she replied.

'Well it's not like I would turn down shopping normally and I wont this time either, especially if it's the only way I'm going to get out of you what happened last night' she rambled.

'Good be ready in 15 minutes I have a credit card I want to max out' she said evilly.

'Your not talking about the 'for emergency only' credit card are you?' Maria asked shocked. Normally Rachel was so responsible refusing to put things like clothes or shoes on the credit card her parents had got for her when she moved to New York.

'Yep' Liz nodded.

'Ok obviously there is story behind this and I cant wait to hear it' she said

'and you will, see you in 15' she told her.

After ringing Maria Rachel called Isabel and had a similar conversation with her. 20 minutes later after saying good bye to Finn and sharing another sweet goodbye kiss Rachel and Maria were on their way to pick up Isabel.

'Ok now that Isabel is here would you like to explain to me why all of a sudden after three and half years of refusal you are going to spend up on your parents credit card?' Maria asked.

'Yeah I'm interested too' Isabel laughed. She had watched her friend put back countless items of clothing and shoes over the years because she couldn't afford them and refused to put them on the credit card.

'Call it a little bit of retail therapy and I've come to realise that my parents owe me a hell of a fucken lot of it' she answered.

'What happened?' Maria immediately asked. She had known Rachel and the Parkers for years and she had never heard Rachel talk about her parents that way.

'Well where do I start, they interfered in my life, made decisions for me that were none of their business to make and basically just ruined my life' she replied angrily.

'Well Rachel what's different than normal, my mum is always doing thinks like that' Maria laughed.

'They told Finn no' she said then, biting her bottom lip to try and ward off the tears that threatened to fall at the reminder.

'You don't mean what I think you do, do you?' Isabel gasped.

'Yep' Rachel confirmed.

'Ok, I know I'm blonde but can someone please fill me in on what the two of you are talking about' a confused Maria asked.

'The ring, Finn bought it to propose and when he asked the Berry's they said no' Isabel explained for her.

'Your kidding?' Maria said.

'Nope I'm very serious' Rachel replied.

Maria reached over and grabbed Rachel's purse then and pulled out the credit card. 'So how high does this sucker go again?' she asked with a mischievous smile.

Isabel and Rachel laughed.

Two hours and almost $400 dollars in credit card charges later the girls walked out of the mall.

'Wow that was intense' Maria sighed.

'Tell me about it, who knew that spending money would be so hard' Rachel replied.

'Your just not doing it right' Isabel laughed.

Maria and Isabel had found tonnes and tonnes of things for Rachel to buy to max the credit card out but most of it just wasn't Rachel. In the end she had brought a couple of new outfits to wear out, one for her date with Finn that night, and a few smart business suits to wear to any interviews that she would need to attend along with a new pair of black leather boots that she had been eyeing off for months now.

'Let's stop for coffee' Maria suggested then and the rest of the girls agreed before jumping in Finn's jeep that he had let Rachel borrow for the day and drove towards the coffee shop around the corner.

After ordering the girls took a seat 'ok so spill chica' Maria waste not time.

'Well some of it is private and I don't think Finn would want you to know but I think we've sorted through most of it' she explained.

'So what does that mean?' Isabel asked.

'Well it means that I'm still upset over the whole Serena thing and the fact that Finn kept so much from me but that I know things are going to be ok, eventually' she told them.

'So your back together?' Maria squealed in delight.

'Well yeah I guess, um I'm not really sure' Rachel laughed. 'Besides, there is still a lot we need to work through'

'I'm glad' Isabel smiled.

'He's taking me out tonight' she smiled slightly 'on a date' she added.

'Oh how sweet' Isabel said.

'So what are you going to do about your parents?' Maria asked.

'Well I thought I'd wait till they got the call about the usage on the credit card and wait for them to ring me' she told them before taking a sip of her hot chocolate that the waitress had brought just brought over.

'How long will that be?' Isabel asked.

'Not sure I've never used it' Rachel shrugged.

'I still cant believe they told him no' Maria sighed.

'Join the club. I was totally shocked when Finn told me' she replied.

'did Finn say why?' Isabel asked.

'Yeah my mum told him that we were too young to understand love and that we would get over it in a couple of months. My dad played on Finn's guilt telling him he would be ruining my life because to marry him I would end up having to give up on all my dreams and that one day I would regret my life with him' she explained.

'Oh god' Isabel cried 'I cant believe they did that'

'That's despicable' Maria agreed.

'I know. I just don't know what it's going to take for my parents to understand that the most important thing in my life is Finn. Sure I love school and thanks to all the time I've had on my hands to study that I'm going to end up with a great job but did they really think I wouldn't if I was with Finn?'

'I know, Finn has always planned on just finding work near you' Isabel said.

'Exactly, he even told me he'd come to Europe with me if I wanted to accept a job there, even though he might not be able to work over there without more schooling' she sighed.

'Your going to Europe?' Maria shrieked.

'I'm not sure' Rachel admitted 'I got a really impressive job offer and when Finn and I weren't talking I considered it but now I don't know. Finn and I need to talk about it seriously before I decide anything' she told her friend.

'God don't go to Europe' Isabel begged. Rachel understood her friends concern, they were a close group and not only would Isabel be loosing a friend she would be loosing her brother who she was extremely close to since they were twins.

'So what happens with the ring?' Maria asked then.

'It's beautiful' Rachel smiled 'but he took it back' she explained.

'What! Why?' Maria asked.

'He told me that I cant have it till he asks me a question and I say yes to it and that he wouldn't do it in the situation we were in last night' she said.

'Well Finn has been planning this a long time' Isabel laughed.

'What, really?' Rachel asked surprised. She didn't think Finn had ever really given it any thought which was why she was so shocked when she found the engagement ring.

Isabel and Maria both laughed then 'oh god Rachel I cant believe you haven't figured out how long my brother has been head over heels in love with you. When we were little we used to play house and he'd always insist on being the daddy and Rachie would be his wife' she told her.

Rachel found herself blushing a bright red 'well it's the same for me' she admitted.

'I know' Maria smiled reaching over to take her friends hand in her own, She didn't know what she would do if Rachel really did move to Europe.

Serena and Tess walked into the coffee shop and looked around for a table. The place was unusually busy that afternoon and they suspected it was because most people were finished with exams.

'over there' Tess said moving past her to a spare table at the back.

'Look' Tess pointed at the table that Rachel, Maria and Isabel were giggling at.

'Hmm' Serena replied 'Who's the tall blonde?; she asked.

'No idea, I've never seen her before' she explained.

'You don't think that could be El do you?' Serena asked feeling very intimidated by Isabel's beauty, she knew that if that girl was Finn's El that she didn't stand a chance of winning him back.

'Ser you really should just let it go, I've told you everyone that I've asked doesn't know an El' Tess explained. Truthfully Tess was just as curious as Serena to find out who this El was that Finn seemed to be infatuated with.

'I know but maybe she doesn't go to NYU' Serena argued standing up from her seat.

'What are you doing?' Tess asked.

'Going to find out' she informed her before walking over to the table the girls were seated at.