A/N: Since the Pilot episode, every time I see Sour Patch Kids, I think of Finchel. It's become our fandom's universal candy for the two. So I had this crazy idea to incorporate the candy into a AU fic. I originally planned on making it just one long one-shot, but I eventually figured it would be easier to just divide it into three chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor do I own Sour Patch Kids.

i.

Working at the movie theaters isn't as great as he had hoped it would be.

Between smelling like butter and cleaning up after other people's food, the only good thing is that the free movie tickets.

Honestly, he can't believe he chose this over working at Burt's for his summer job. He hates it already, and it's only his second week.

But he's learned that you can tell a lot about a person by what they buy at the concession stand. Like he can tell that the puny guy with weird hair takes the whole 'free refills with a large popcorn and a large drink thing' literally, considering the fact that he comes back every day with the same cup and bag. He swears he saw mold on his bag too. Or middle-age couple who spent twenty dollars on chicken strips and fries must be crazy because there's a freaking cheap fast food place next door. No one really gets caught sneaking in food; heck he and Puck do it all the time.

He's super pissed because the line is super long and he's just burned the popcorn and right now, he'd rather be playing MW3.

"Get it together Hudson!" his coworker yells at him.

Right. Think of the money, for college. "Next."

He looks down to see a box of Sour Patch Kids, his absolute favorite candy in the world. Funny, this is the first time he's seen someone actually buy them. The one with different colors and flavors of little kids, not the watermelon one.

"Would that be all for you?"

"Yes."

He expected the buyer to be some little boy, and looks up, obviously surprised that his customer is female. However, as his light brown eyes meet her dark ones, he couldn't help but to stare. She was about his age, a bit short. She wasn't like the average beauty around here, she was unique. He's surprised he hasn't seen her around before. Lima isn't exactly the largest town in the world.

After what seemed like an eternity she broke their gaze and gave him a five.

"Oh, right. Here's your change."

She takes the change and shoots him her angelic smile before opening the box and shoving three Sour Patch Kids in her mouth.

ii.

He spends his Thursdays off at Puck's place playing video games.

He's sitting on Puck's couch with his eyes glued to the screen when he hears someone clear their throat. "Aren't you going to introduce me to you friend, Noah?"

He's heard that voice before. He pauses the game and turns around to see her. She stood there, head tilted, one hand placed on her hip, the other holding a box of Sour Patch Kids. What are the odds? Wait, he saw her like four days ago. That's pretty gross if that's the same box.

"Right. Hudson, this my cousin Rachel. Our Rabbi told my ma about the importance of family or whatever so were stuck with this diva for the whole damn summer. Berry, this my boy Finn."

She rolled her eyes before staring at him, a stranger, as if she was trying to analyze and remember every single feature. She then nodded like she was trying to convince someone other than herself.

"You may be 'stuck with my diva needs' Noah, but I have no choice but to listen to your vulgar language and obscene comments about woman. And you Mr…?"

"Hudson."

"Hudson must are no different. Based on that Leatherman jacket you are wearing I can tell that you are one of the barbarian men who use woman and have no real perspective on culture or art so no, I do not want to associate myself with you."

"Chill babe, you were the one who asked! You may be hot as hell but you're crazy cuz." Puck yells.

"Shut it Puckerman. I am sick of you guys, sick of this loser town. To think I am wasting my time here when I should be back in New York auditioning for summer plays!" She yelled as she stomped away.

"She's intense. I mean, she kind of scares me." Finn whispered.

"No shit. Just ignore her. Come on, unpause the freaking game already, duty's calling."

"Yeah."

But the problem was his mind just couldn't ignore her. It was like his head was a TV and the only channel was the Rachel Berry show. Rachel Berry. What did she know about him? What did he know about her? Nothing. They knew nothing about each other. And that was probably what was bothering him the most.

iii.

That weekend finally arrived: Puck's annual summer party. Yet he's not looking forward to the girls, nor the beer, nor the games. He's looking forward to her.

He sees her at the corner of the room, reading a book. She must have felt his gaze because as if one cue she looks up and stares at him. He takes that as his sign to talk to her.

It would be his luck that at that moment, a drunk cheerleader would fling herself to him. He sees Rachel shake her head and go back to reading her book. Sometimes destiny just hates him.

He gently pushes the blondie away and completes his trek over to her. "Hey."

She makes no acknowledgment to his presence and turns the page as if she was oblivious to her surroundings. He had no idea someone can be this stubborn, well except for Kurt when it comes to fashion.

He takes the seat next to her. If she want to play this game, he was going to fight back. "You know, it's really rude to ignore someone while they're trying to talk to you."

"Well it's rude to interrupt someone while they are clearly busy as well." She looks up to see his smile. Her eyes widen in defeat.

"I don't know if you remember me or not, but I was the dude at the movie theater who sold you your box of Sour Patch Kids." He takes her silence as a yes.

"You know what's funny about Sour Patch Kids? First they're sour, then they're sweet." he continues.

"You're forgetting the most important thing," she says as she stands up, "after that, they're gone."

He knows he should just give up, a girl like that obviously wants nothing to do with a Lima Loser like him. Maybe he should just forget about her, oh but there's something about her. He just can't give up. He doesn't want to wake up sixty years from now regretting not knowing her. Yeah, he's not sure exactly the why part, but he does know that Finn Hudson does not give up that easy.

iv.

He goes over to Puck's the next day after work to find her sitting on the bench on the outside porch, writing in a pink notebook. She shuts it close before he can even get close to reading it.

"Well now that I have your attention how about a little chat. I brought you something." He takes out a box of Sour Patch Kids he stole from work.

"Sorry, I can't take candy from strangers."

"That's exactly my point."

"What is?"

"We're strangers, so you have no right to just assume things about me."

"I've heard things about you, I'm not stupid, I just saw you-"

"Did you know that Sour Patch Kids are my favorite candy, like ever?"

To his surprise, she chuckles. "I could have reached that conclusion if-"

"If you spent more time with me. Exactly."

"Are you going to keep cutting me off? Look, I see what you're saying, but why? What do you want? Why do you want to know me?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's because you're the first person who bought Sour Patch Kids from me. Or it's the fact that you're you know different. I like that about you. All am looking for, is a new friend."

It was silent for a few moments, and he knew she was a little debate in her head. "You're right." She nods, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"I don't know you, and the fact that I made those assumptions about you make me no better than what I thought about you. So how about we just start over." She sticks her hand out, "Hi, I'm Rachel, Rachel Berry."

"I'm Finn Hudson. It's nice to finally meet you" he states as he shakes her hand.

v.

They talk every day, through phone, through text, even through Skype. It's been two and a half weeks since Puck's party and talking has become like breathing, normal.

He learns how the beginning is always the hardest. Like how it is inevitable to escape the awkwardness. But she's easy to talk to. He started telling by telling her his basic profile and vice versa. He learns how she is the same age as him. She's about to be a senor too and wants to go to NYADA after high school because she's a star. He personally has no idea where to go or what to do, but she's there for him. He's learning more each day, and so is she.

Still he keeps some things to himself, and he knows she does the same as well. Because really, no one gives away all their secrets, thoughts, nor fears to just anyone. Especially when you don't understand them yourself.

But she isn't just anyone anymore. They're friends, good friends. They've established that together. She's a part of his life now, and he wouldn't dare try to change that.

vi.

He comes over to the Puckerman household a lot. Puck finds it weird that he spends more time with Rachel than with him, but honestly, he doesn't. Sometimes he forgets than Rachel's his cousin because they couldn't be more different.

He hears her sing, unintentionally. He usually calls, but today since he was in the area, he decided to surprise her. But as he stopped outside her bedroom door, he swears he hears the voice of an angel. It's beautiful, majestic, special. Call him a girl or whatever, but it touched him, in heart and soul. He doesn't know how to explain it, but he could feel it.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?" he asks once she finishes, making her jump.

"Finn! What are you doing here?" She gets up and greets him with a hug.

"I wanted to surprise you, looks like you were the one who ended up surprised me.

"You knew I wanted to be on Broadway Finn. Of course I had to be good at singing."

"You're more than good Rachel, you're amazing. NYADA would be a fool for not accepting you."

"I don't know, I thought so too, until I saw the competition."

"That's nonsense Rach. I know I'm not the smartest guy, but one thing I do know is that you were meant to be star. You deserve to shine.

"You really believe in me that much?"

"More."

vii.

It didn't take long before they spend every free moment together. Instead of playing video games with Puck on Thursdays like before, he spends it listening to Rachel sing while eating their favorite candy.

They're just so comfortable around each other. Their bodies don't hesitate to interact with the other's. He's used to her head on her shoulder, or his hand on her thigh.

But they're just friends.

That's all they've agreed to. He chooses to ignore his thoughts that suggest otherwise. Like how awesome it would be to kiss her whenever he wants to, or how he doesn't have to worry about other guys checking her out. Or the fact that maybe, just maybe, she might like him just as much. But he tries to push all those thoughts to the back of his head. Really, just being here, with her, even just as her friend, is good enough for him. At least, for now.

viii.

He takes her home one day and he could tell she's nervous. He is too. He's brought friends over before, but none of them were girls. He doesn't even want to remember the only time he's brought a girlfriend over. But Rachel isn't his girlfriend, she just his best friend that happens to be a girl.

He's not surprised that Rachel and Kurt instantly bond. They're both divas, both into New York and Broadway. He thinks Rachel just convinced Kurt to go to NYADA with her too.

His mom absolutely adores her too. She even prepared a vegan dinner in honor of her. He brought dessert though, Sour Patch Kids. It mainly just him and Rachel who eat it though.

"Rachel, how can you eat that horrible excuse for a candy?" Kurt asks; not even hesitating to show his disgust for the candy.

"Well it contains no gelatin so it's safe for vegetarians and vegans to eat. Ever since I was a little kid, they were my favorite. I don't really know why I like them, I just do."

"Now I know why you and my brother are friends. He keeps a dozen of those stashed in his desk. I swear he spends half of his paycheck buying those rotten things. You know, just last week I was looking through his online history. I expected to see something you know inappropriate like boobs or whatever, but you know what I found? 'The History of Sour Patch Kids.'"

"I bet you didn't know that Frank Galatolie was the creator of them. I owe my life to that dude." he states smiling at Rachel. She has this glint in her eyes that he's never seen before.

After dinner, she excuses the both of them and he leads her upstairs.

ix.

He's not gonna lie, he was disappointed when she rejected building a shrine towards the maker of Sour Patch Kids. But he knows that look on her face. Rachel's the kind of girl who when she has something important to say, she's doesn't wait to tell it.

He's sitting at the foot of his bed while she's pacing back and forth.

"Rachel, what's wrong?"

"Finn, you introduced me to your family."

"Well yeah and they love you-"

"Do you know what this means?" She states as she sits next to him.

He gulps, and shakes his head. Is she about to say what he thinks (hoping) she's saying?

"It means that you trust me enough to see you interact with your family, it means that you're not hiding anything from me. Seeing you, with your brother and mom and step-dad, it hit me that…"

"That what? Rachel, you can tell me anything."

"I need to tell you the truth, about why I'm really here. You see... I... I ran away from my dads to find my mom, my birth mom. But she-... she basically told me that it was too late. She moved on, heck she adopted Noah's kid for heavens sake. She didn't want me. So Noah's mom took me in and convinced my dads to let me stay the summer. I couldn't tell you this at first but as we got closer..." He watches as her voice falters before she breaks into tears. He's never seen her so vulnerable.

"Shhh its okay Rachel it's okay." He takes her in his arms and rubs her back in an effort to comfort her. He hates seeing her cry. He knows he shouldn't but he places a couple of kisses on her head.

"What am I supposed to do when the summer's over, my dads probably hate me now. I wouldn't blame them."

"That's crazy Rach, they love you. You have so many people who care about, you don't need her. She's the one who missed out. And you'll always have me I promise. Besides, I have to tell you something too. It just so happens that it really is a small world."

He tells her what he's been trying to forget for the past year. He tells her about Quinn, the affair, the baby, everything. He's never been this open with anyone, and the words just come out without thought. He tells her things he doesn't understand too, about his dad, being a Lima Loser. She's encouraging and helps him understand. She's okay with his mistakes and he's okay with hers. Most importantly, they're there for each other, they need each other.

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