What are the steps involved in seed germination?

I can’t believe how ignorant I am of this.

A fruit, say a peach, ripens and falls from the tree. I am guessing that it does not really fall but is dropped by the tree. After falling from the tree, the seed starts to germinate. Is there a mechanism to keep the seed from germinating while the fruit is on the tree, or is it just a synchronization between seed development and the fruit being dropped?

When the seed germinates, does the seedling push apart the outer shell of the pit? Does the seedling send out roots through the fruit into the ground, or is there some kind of shoot that gets sent out, which forms roots after going into the ground? How does the seedling retrieve nutrients from the outer fruit? From the roots? If we observed the fruit, would it look like it was rotting, or would it just keep getting smaller?

People plant seeds into the soil. On its own, does the seed go into the soil, or will it remain on top of it?