Well here it is my newest story. Just a little thing my brain came up with listening to music a while back.

Future-Fic from Finn's POV, what happens if he runs into Rachel after several years of being out of her life.

As always I own nothing so please don't sue me, no copyright infringement intended.

Enjoy, please read and review.

July 2021

And it starts...

Sometime around midnight

or at least that's when

you lose yourself

for a minute or two

I'm not sure what I was thinking agreeing to this little outing. I can't do this, I want to be an adult but part of me wants to run like a scared little boy. Mike and Jake were the ones who suggested it, and I stupidly agreed. We're all working on this Broadway account together, and like we normally do decided we needed to research what it was we were trying to promote. I couldn't tell them I didn't want to see this new play because I'm scared of running into my ex-girlfriend. So now I sit here in a noisy bar with some band playing something that sounds familiar.

"Dude!" Mike says throwing a wadded up napkin at me. I don't even flinch, it just bounces off my head falling to the table.

"Forget it he's been all Cameron Frye since he saw that fox back at the theatre. I'd totally do her, did you see that ass!" Jake says, and I growl at his comment.

"Finn, are you in there buddy?"

"I need a beer, and maybe a whiskey." I say abruptly getting up from the table heading to the bar.

I couldn't tell you which bar we're in, it must be somewhere near the theatre because I don't remember them dragging me very far, but I'm so out of it, it could be miles away.

As you stand...

Under the bar lights

And the band plays some song

About forgetting yourself for a while

And the piano's this melancholy sound check

To her smile

And that white dress she's wearing

You haven't seen her

For a while

The bartender puts my drinks up on the flat top and I down the whiskey in one shot. It burns as it makes it way down; I put the fire out with the beer. She hasn't changed, not a bit. I knew it was only a matter of time before our paths crossed again, especially when I was assigned this account. She looked so amazing up there singing her heart out. She made it, just like I always knew she would. She's living her dream, only I'm not a part of it anymore.

Sighing I head back over to the guys, I know they're waiting for an explanation. They both know about Rachel, that she's my one that got away.

"So? You care to explain what the hell happened back there?" Jake asks.

I chuckle, taking another swig of my beer before diving in.

"That was my past. The lead in the play, the tiny brunette with the big voice and the nice ass as you put it, is Rachel."

"Wait Rachel, your Rachel? Wow!" Mike exclaims.

"So what are you going to do?" he asks a moment later.

"What do you mean what am I going to do? I'm going to do my job. I'm going to promote the play."

"Well, that's good, but I meant what are you going to do about that?" he points towards the door.

I look at him confused, and then I hear her laugh, it cuts through the noise of the bar. She's here, she's at the bar and I can tell she's looking at me. I always could tell when Rachel was looking at me. Her gaze always could set my skin on fire, I feel the skin on the back of my neck tingling.

I fold my arms on the table in front of me, resting my head against them and I groan.

But you know...

That she's watching

She's laughing, she's turning

She's holding her tonic like a crux

The room suddenly spinning

She walks up and asks how you are

So you can smell her perfume

You can see her lying naked in your arms

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Finn Hudson." She says warmly.

I lift my head and look at her sheepishly.

"Hey Rach, how longs it been?" I know it's a stupid question. I suddenly I feel like I did back in High School, like a bumbling buffoon.

I know we both know exactly how long it's been, if I thought about it for a moment I could probably tell you down to the minute how long it's been. I haven't seen or talked to her since the night we broke up. It was the last night we were both home in Lima for spring break our senior year in college. Rachel was here in New York attending NYU, I was back in Ohio going to OSU on a football scholarship. We'd made it through three and a half years being separated by all those miles. We were so happy; we'd been making plans for our future, I'd even been saving for a ring. Then I had to go and screw it all up, I'd been offered a position at a major advertising firm in Chicago, the offer was so good I had to take it. Rachel told me she was tired of us being separated, of waiting to be together again and that if I took the job then that was the end of us.

"Too long." She says simply.

I can't stand it anymore, I need to touch her. The white dress she's wearing hugs all her curves in all the right ways. I stand and wrap her in my arms. She still smells the same as she did five years ago.

"How have you been?" I ask.

"Great." She says smiling brightly at me.

"What brings you to New York?" she asks. "Last I heard you were still taking the advertising world by storm in the windy city. Your mom is so proud of you. Tell her I say Hello, it's been a bit of a whirlwind lately, I haven't talked to anyone from home in ages."

"Uh, work, I've been here a few months. I've been meaning to call, but…" I trail off.

She puts her hand on my arm and smiles up at me sadly.

"I understand Finn, what do you say to the person who broke you're heart."

And there it is the truth that hangs in the air between us.

And so there's a change...

In your emotions

And all of these memories come rushing

Like feral waves to your mind

Of the curl of your bodies

Like two perfect circles entwined

And you feel hopeless, and homeless

And lost in the haze

Of the wine

"C'mon Rach, don't…" I start "that was along time ago and I don't blame you." I honestly don't, I blame myself for our break up.

"God, it's so good to see you." She laughs, hugging me quickly.

"You too. Look at you Rachel Berry Broadway star. I heard about the Tony award. Congratulations I knew you could do it, I always knew you'd make it."

I hear Mike clear his throat behind me and remember the guys are there.

"Rachel, this is Mike Smith, and Jake Neilson they're the rest of my team."

She reaches her hand out to shake both their hands.

"It's so nice to meet you." She says smiling.

"We've heard great things about you Rachel. Of course Hudson didn't tell us you were so beautiful." Jake gushes.

Rachel blushes slightly. I love how she can perform on stage in front of thousands of people but give the girl a compliment to her face and she blushes.

Someone calls her name from across the bar and she turns giving them a wave and a smile.

"Finn I hate to do this but I really need to get going, my friends are waiting." She pulls a pen from her purse, writes her number on a napkin handing it to me.

"Call me!" she says before leaning up to kiss me on the cheek, and I wonder when she started wearing such high heels. Maybe she's not the same Rachel I knew 5 years ago after all.

And she leaves...

With someone you don't know

But she makes sure you saw her

She looks right at you and bolts

As she walks out the door

Your blood boiling

Your stomach in ropes

And when your friends say what is it

You look like you've seen a ghost

"Damn, Hudson!" Mike whistles.

"Shut up Mike!" I snap.

"You going to call her?" Jake asks.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." I shrug, slipping the napkin into the inside pocket of my suit jacket. I watch her while downing a couple more shots. I'm not usually a big drinker and the whiskey is going straight to my head.

She leaves a little while later. She'd sipped her white wine slowly talking adamantly to her friends. She really does fit in here, she's so confident and happy, afar cry from the outcast she'd been all those years ago in Lima. New York agrees with her, it's where she belongs.

Her hand is resting on the arm of one of the guys that came in with her and I can't help but wonder if he's more that just a friend. I find myself getting jealous of this guy I don't even know. I need to get out of here, I need some air. The walk home will do me some good.

And you walk...

Under the streetlights

And you're too drunk to notice

That everyone is staring at you

And you so care what you look like

The world is falling

Around you

Laying in bed later, I think about her and us, and all the time that's past since there was an us. I realize that I want a chance to find out if there's still something between us. I can still see her tangled in the sheets of my bed, her hair fanned out messily on the pillow, her eyes sparkling with happiness. I'm not sure how I ever let her go. I don't know why I didn't fight for her, for us, for the future we never got to have because I needed to prove that I was good at something other than loving her.

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

You just have to see her

I send flowers to the theatre the next day, with a card asking her to dinner. She calls me at the office later that afternoon, leaving me a message saying she'd love to have dinner, because I was in a meeting. I practically skip out of the office, happier than I have been in a long time. I call her that evening and we make plans, it's hard because she has rehearsals and the show, some days two performances. We manage to find something that works for both of our schedules.

Mike and Jake pester me constantly wanting updates over the next couple of days. I tell them we haven't talked because she's busy with the show.

"You talk to that Diva again?" Mike asks.

"She's not a Diva she's a Star?" I say knowing I sound lame and lovesick.

"Oh yeah what's she been starring in?" Jake asks waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"My fantasies" Mike says without missing a beat.

"You two are pigs." I glare at both of them, but I have to admit she's been in my dreams the last few nights.

I worry that I'm getting my hopes up too high and that she'll end up breaking my heart again. I lost her once and I'm willing to do anything to get another chance, hopefully my second chance with her in high school wasn't my last.

And you know that she'll break you

In two

Finally the night of our date arrives, and I'm nervous. I tried on half a dozen shirts before settling on the deep blue one, she always liked me in blue. I'm standing in front of her door, she lives in a small brownstone, not all that far from my apartment building. I ring the bell, gripping the flowers in my hand tightly, I wait for her to come down. I expel a breath, trying to calm my nerves.

She opens the door, and I forget how to breathe. Her chocolate locks are in loose curls, floating around her shoulders, she's in a simple red and black wrap dress. She smiles widely at me.

"Hello Finn." She says.

"Hi Rachel." I extend the flowers to her. "These are for you."

"Thanks, come in a second while I put these I water."

I stand in her foyer looking around; it's not at all what I expected. I'm used to Rachel's pink and fluffy room back home. Not the sophisticated house that's warm and welcoming.

She comes back, throwing a shawl around her shoulders grabbing her purse off the table.

"I'm ready."

I offer her my arm after we lock up her place. We walk down the sidewalk towards the restaurant where I made reservations.

"Nice house, yours?" I can't help but ask.

"Yeah, my Dad's bought it years ago when the bottom dropped out of the market as an investment, it needed tones of work and they couldn't afford to do it so I bought if from them three years ago for what they paid, and I've been doing renovations ever since. It's finally done, my contractor finished up last month. So how do you like New York?" she asks.

"Well, I wasn't sure at first it moves a lot faster than Chicago, but it's growing on me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." I smile at her. "I've missed you Rachel." I tell her honestly.

"I've missed you too Finn. My life just isn't the same without you in it cheering me on."

"What's this? No personal cheerleader?"

"Nope, it's just me. Well, me and few close friends."

"What about you? Is there anyone special in your life?"

I look up at the night sky wondering how much I want to reveal to her.

"I guess the right girl never came along," I stop to look down at her deciding to lay it all on the line for her. "or I already had her and stupidly let her get away."

"Finn…" she says softly, looking up at me I'm sure I see tears glistening in her brown depths. I feel like a jerk, making her feel guilty for following her dreams. We continue on in silence.

"Hey look we're here." I say opening the door to the restaurant.

We chat comfortably over dinner, a fan even bravely comes over to ask her for an autograph, she smiles warmly and obliges the woman. Rachel was very pleased that I chose somewhere that had a vegan friendly menu. It was a wonderful evening. We caught each other up on our families and friends. We talked about our jobs, and our lives as adults. Lingering over drinks; neither one of us wanting the evening to end. Finally she says she needs to get home as she has to be at the theatre early the next day it's a Saturday and she has two shows to prepare for.

I take her hand, our fingers lacing together as we walk back to her place. Her hand still fits perfectly into mine.

Standing at her front door she turns to me and says, "I had a really nice time tonight Finn."

"So did I." I tell her, "I'd love to take you out again." I don't want to sound desperate, but I can't help but want to make up for lost time.

"I'd like that." She smiles softly.

"I'll call you then and we can set something up."

"Alright, Goodnight Finn."

"Good night Rachel." I say leaning in, I drop of soft kiss on her lips, she kisses me back and it's just like it always was, the sparks are still there.

She slips inside, when I hear the lock click into place I turn and walk away. I'm sure I have a big dopey grin on my face and I don't care who sees it. I can't wait for our next date.