Hello! This is a little happy one shot for you! It's inspired by the song "Unforgettable" by Thomas Rhett. I don't own the song. I don't own glee. The plot was inspired by the song so I only own the parts that stray I suppose. Enjoy!
Finn was laying on his back panting as his new wife hovered above him. Her veil was still on top of her head, although now it wasn't sitting quite right anymore. Some parts of her neatly pinned back hair had fallen forward, framing her rosy cheeks. The white lace dress that had been so perfect was now gathered around her waist as she rolled off of him. His tuxedo shirt was half unbuttoned and his bow tie was thrown somewhere across the room. That's as far as they had gotten before desire had taken over. It was their wedding day after all.
Rachel pushes the dress back down, smoothing it out as she stood up. The dress she had spent months picking out, would soon reside in a box in her closet, never to be work again. She stared at her reflection in the mirror hung on the wall of their hotel room, admiring how her dress hugged her in all of the right places.
"I think you can take the dress off Rach. We probably should have taken it off before we had some crazy sex huh?" He admires her from the bed, still not believing this day has actually happened.
"I'm never taking it off. If I do it means today is over and I don't want it to be." Rachel flashes him a pouty face and bats her eyelashes. She spins around, causing her dress to rise off of the ground. "I just love it so much." Rachel throws herself onto her side of the bed, not bothering to to fix her veil.
"Well I guess you'll have to wear it forever. I won't mind seeing you in it every day but it might hinder some other things, like your job." Finn laughs, pulling his pants up and wandering over to the table where the champagne was waiting. He carefully pours two glasses and hands one to his wife who is now propped up on the bed.
"To us," she says as she raises a glass in the air.
"To October 14th at Jack's Saloon!" Finn says as he raises his glass and clinks it with hers.
"What? What does the bar where we met have anything to do with this? You're going to toast our new marriage on our wedding night to a bar? We're MARRIED Finn. Celebrating our nuptials with sex and champagne like any good couple should. Just because we met there doesn't mean we owe our entire relationship to it." She takes a big swig of her drink and smacks her lips together as she swallows.
Finn raises his glass in the air again. "If we both hadn't been at Jack's on October 14th, we would have never met. So we kind of need to pay homage to the place AND the date don't you think?" Finn smiled as he chugged his champagne.
"I can't even believe you remember the exact date we met. You can barely remember to take your lunch to work everyday!" She laughs because she knows she's hit a sore spot with him and he throws a pillow at her almost causing the champagne to spill on the bed. "Finn! You're going to get champagne on my dress! If I want our future daughter to wear this I can't have it ruined!"
Finn smiles at the thought of a little girl of their own. "I hate to break it to you, but with my genes I doubt any child of ours will fit into that dress, but you can keep dreaming." He removes his pants and climbs back onto the bed, his shirt and socks still on.
"You're looking real sexy with those black knee high socks right now Finn. How will I resist your sexy self?" She winks and throws the pillow back at him, but he catches it before it his him.
Finn takes the champagne out of her hand and places it on the nightstand beside her. "Oh you know you can't resist me. You couldn't from the first moment you met me."
"Is that so? Because I remember you were pretty fond of me too." Rachel reaches up and pushes some of his messy curls off of his forehead.
"I remember every detail of that night because its the night that changed my life," he smiles.
"Prove it," she replies as she pulls him in for a kiss.
Puck had practically begged him to go out. He hates bars. Absolutely hates them. Sure back in college they were everything to him. His entire social life revolved around his fake I.D. and drinking as much beer as possible before the night was over. Now, they're a nuisance. They're loud and smell and nothing good EVER happens there. It always ends up with Puck hooking up with a girl and Finn leaving early to go back home. It was different when he dated Mara, because she would come along and make it tolerable. Now he goes to make Puck happy a few times a year. Finn was great about making his escape before anyone could be mad. He was usually home before Puck even noticed he was gone if he timed his departure right.
Kurt nicknamed him "grandpa" because he'd rather stay at home watching the game on a Saturday night instead of going out. He was a master at thinking of excuses for why he couldn't attend most social events. He just wasn't feeling it anymore. Sure he's had girlfriends. A few long term ones too. He just didn't care right now. Single living was fine and he didn't need to be spending time in bars with drunk girls acting dumb and guys looking for hookups. It just made him feel uneasy. That time in his life was over. He doesn't want to go out and party and hookup with girls. He's 30. He wants to meet his wife in a respectable way. Sure, there are nice girls at bars, he just hasn't met any of them yet. He surely doesn't want to go out every weekend hoping that "the one" will magically be at a bar he is at. It's depressing. He figures he has at least 10 good years left in him before he'll be out of his prime.
The chances of anyone meeting their soulmate at a bar are slim to none. Does he have scientific evidence? No. He didn't know ANYONE who had, and frankly he didn't want that to be his story. Oh Finn how did you meet your wife? In a bar. No. He shuddered at the thought. Bars were for drunk nights with friends, hookups, and one night stands. He's had plenty of all three. He thought by now he'd be married. Possibly with kids. Mara wanted something else out of her life last year and up and moved to Paris without him. He still isn't sure what exactly went wrong. He misses her sometimes, but he thinks he just misses the IDEA of her. A companion. Someone to tell exciting news to at the end of the day. A person who is interested in you and what you like, even if its not the same as what they do. He misses that part of Mara. He doesn't miss the parts where he never felt good enough for her, or exciting enough, or hot enough.
However, right now he found himself walking into Jack's Saloon on a crisp October night, trailing behind Puck who was ready to party. It was 10pm, which is early by New York standards, but nonetheless the bar was already packed. Finn hadn't really dressed up for the occasion, wearing dark jeans and charcoal pullover v neck sweater. "It's fall" he could hear Kurt saying in his head as he put it on. "Charcoal is perfect for fall."
"Sam and Mike are meeting us here and Mike's girlfriend is bringing a bunch of her friends. I'll let you pick which friend you'd like ok? You aren't allowed to leave before midnight Hudson. Got it? You need a goddamn life!" Puck shouts as they ventured further into the bar looking for their friends. He followed Puck like a lost puppy, even though he could see above the entire crowd at his height. He spotted Mike at a high top table to the left towards the bathrooms.
"I see Mike over there with Tina!"
Puck and Finn see Mike waving frantically at them as they made their way through the crowd. It was dark, but not dark enough where they couldn't see around the entire bar.
"Hey Guys! Over here!" he could see Mike mouthing.
Finn raises his hand to indicate they saw them so Mike will stop acting like an idiot with his crazy arms in the air.
The guys greet Mike with a high five and see a small girl standing next to him. "Guys this is my girlfriend Tina. Tina, meet Puck and Finn."
"It's nice to meet you! Hope you don't mind us picking this spot for tonight. It was the closest to the theater and rehearsal ran late today. Some of my friends are on their way to meet us!" Tina shakes their hands and sips on her wine.
Sam comes back to the table from the bar, already having two girls in tow behind him. "You made it! And Finn is out of the house its a miracle!" Sam shouts as the girls behind him laugh. "Guys this is Amber and Tess, they're here from out of town! Where were you from again?"
"Indiana" Tess answers as she touches Sam's arm.
Oh here we go, Finn thinks to himself. Sam's already in hookup mode, Mike has a girlfriend here, and lord knows Puck should be having sex in the bathroom with someone soon. He glances towards the door already planning his escape for later. He'll probably spend the entire night nursing a beer and people watching. Some nights its worth it, to be the wallflower watching everyone else make fools of themselves. Other nights it just makes him feel lonely.
"Here have a beer man," Sam says handing him a bottle. Finn takes a swig as he sits down at the bar top table, the cool liquid coating his throat. He starts to people watch considering no one is talking to him. There's music playing, so he sees a few girls sipping drinks and dancing with each other while a few guys behind them watch. Typical.
Over at the bar there are a few other girls having guys buy them drinks, Puck being one of them. He's talking to two girls but Finn can't tell what they look like because their backs are turned. Puck catches his eye and winks at him which makes Finn laugh. Some things never change. He wonders if Puck will be that creepy 50 year old man who buys young girls drinks in the slim chance he might get laid out of it. Finn holds back a laugh at the thought of it.
Three beers later Finn is getting a nice buzz and he hasn't even realized that an hour has passed. Only one hour left, he thinks to himself. At midnight I'm bolting.
Sam and Tess have now been talking the entire time, Amber leaving the group to go somewhere else. She had attempted to hold a conversation with Finn and failed, so he saw her walk off to talk to a group of guys playing darts against the far wall. Mike and Tina are dancing next to the table, Mike whispering in her ear and making her laugh. They seem like a good couple from what he can tell. Mike's had his fair share of heartbreaks, so he's hoping Tina works out for him.
Finn gets up to go to the bathroom and as he's walking away he hears girls squealing at his table, indicating that Tina's friends have arrived. He rolls his eyes, because he's just not into girls in bars anymore. They're loud and obnoxious. He opens the door to the men's room to see Puck washing his hands.
"Hey dude! Have you found any cute girls tonight?" he asks.
"No I've been sitting at the table just people watching. You KNOW I hate bars."
Puck dries his hands off slowly while laughing. "You need to lighten the hell up! We're both 30 and single! Why wouldn't we go to bars Finn? Where do you think you're going to meet a girl? Not everyone meets them at work like you met Mara. Just because she broke your heart and fucked you up, doesn't mean you can't have a good time!" He pats Finn on the back before exiting the bathroom before Finn can reply.
Puck had a point. He has been wallowing in his own self pity for a while now. Finn decides he's going to have an open mind tonight and at least give Tina's friends a chance to just hang out. An hour talking to them shouldn't kill him and then he can leave.
Finn makes his way out of the bathroom and back through the crowd towards their table, except now he can see a few more people standing there and someone is in his seat. He doesn't want to be rude, so he reaches over in front of the girl in his seat to gently grab his beer without noticing. He fails because at the very moment he's reaching for it, she whips her long hair back and knocks over his beer.
"Shit!" he yells as the girl turns around.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry. Let me buy you another one and grab some napkins." She runs towards the bar before he even sees her face and he loses her in the crowd because she's possibly the smallest woman he's ever seen.
"Hi, I'm Quinn!" a woman says as she holds out her hand for him to shake. "That was Rachel who spilled your beer. She gets excited when she talks sometimes and she can't contain herself." Quinn bats her eyes at Finn. "We're friends of Tina's."
He's struggling to use a few napkins to try to contain the spill while also trying to not ignore Quinn.
"Nice to meet you Quinn. What did you say your friends name was again?"
"Rachel." Quinn stares at Finn a little but doesn't offer to help him which annoys him. Beer is seeping all over the table and he's trying to contain it before hits the floor.
Just then he sees the small woman emerge from the crowd holding a beer in one hand and a towel in the other. She throws the towel onto the liquid that's now oozing all over the table and hands Finn a fresh beer.
"Sorry I hope I got the right one!" she says as she finally looks up at him. "I get a little excited when I talk and I guess I didn't notice your beer!" She turns to start wiping up the beer on the table when Finn decides to step in.
"Don't worry about it! Here, let me help." He grabs the towel from her and finishes wiping up the table. This girl had gorgeous long hair and dark brown eyes. He was taken aback by her face. She was gorgeous but not his type at all. Most of his ex girlfriends were tall for starters. Typically 5'10" or taller to keep up wit his height. "I'm Finn by the way," he says as he turns to her. She's settles back into his seat.
"Oh I'm Rachel, forever known as the girl who spilled your beer." She laughs as she flips her long brown hair behind her shoulder again, revealing bare skin. She's wearing a long sleeved black sweater that hangs off to one side and Finn can't help but notice the top of her toned arm peeking out. It was sexy.
"Nah its fine." He catches himself smiling at her and its the first time all night he's not thinking about leaving. Quinn sits down at the seat next to Rachel and is still staring at Finn, but he doesn't notice.
Puck returns with a bucket of beers for the table, slamming it down so some ice spills out onto the table. "Well hello ladies! I'm Puck and here are some beers for you!" Quinn smiles back at Puck and grabs a beer out of the bucket.
"I don't drink beer but thanks!" Rachel says as she glances back towards the bar. She turns around brushing the ice in front of her onto the floor.
"I can go get you something. What do you want? I need to take this wet towel back up anyways."
"Oh you don't have to buy me anything! You haven't spilled anything of mine that requires a reimbursement." She winks at him nodding towards the beer he's holding.
"Give me time! I promise I'll spill something before the nights over. Now what would you like to drink?"
"Ummmm, a Mango-Rita please."
"A what?" Finn asks furrowing his brow.
"A Mango-Rita. It's like a margarita but mango flavored. Frozen please? They have it I promise. I've been here before." She puts her hand out in front of him. " I'll hold your beer for you and I promise I won't spill it this time." Rachel flashes a smile at Finn as she grabs the beer out of his hand.
Finn nods his head and he sees Rachel and Quinn whispering as he walks away. Soon he feels a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey man, that blonde girl is totally into you. Are you going to go for it or what?" Puck follows Finn as he approaches the bar. "I mean she's hot! She won't stop staring at you, even when you were talking to her friend. She's exactly your type. Blonde, cute, sexy."
Finn pushes his way through the line of people blocking the bar to try and gain the bartenders attention. "I hadn't noticed." Finn answers as he waves his hand toward the tall man pouring drinks. "I'll have a Mango-Rita please! Frozen." He feels like a total fool ordering that, but he can't wait to get back to the table.
"You really need to get out more. I bet by the end of the night that girl is in your bed." Puck laughs loudly. "Or she'll be in mine."
"Have at her Puck. She won't be in my bed by the end of the night I promise. And maybe my type needs to change."
The two return to the table, Finn balancing the Mango-Rita in his hand as some of it leaks onto his fingers. "Here you go Rachel. One frozen Mango-Rita complete with an umbrella."
Rachel makes a small squealing noise as she grabs it from his hand and gives him his own drink in return. She takes a quick sip since the glass is very full and Finn wipes the remaining liquid off of his hand with a half used napkin he finds on the table.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Puck whispering something into Quinn's ear and they walk off towards the small dance floor that has now formed in the middle of the bar. So now everyone has paired off with someone else, leaving Rachel and Finn sitting at the table alone.
"So Finn, what do you do for a living?" She plays with the straw in her drink, twiddling it in-between her fingers.
"I'm an accountant for a company on Wall Street and you?"
"I'm a very serious actress. I'm currently in a play with Tina and I promise you if you come to see it I'll blow you away."
"Are you asking me out Rachel? I mean we just met!" He taps her arm playfully and takes another swig of his beer. "I guess I can find time in my busy accounting schedule to come and see it though. I've never met a SERIOUS actress before. Just the non serious type mostly."
She bursts out laughing as she sucks down more of her drink. For some reason Finn doesn't feel like leaving at midnight like he had originally planned.
A crowd of people surround their table, mostly because Jack's is known for its cool music they play once the DJ goes on at midnight. Puck and Quinn return from dancing and Mike and Tina emerge from wherever they've been hiding out. Sam is off with his newfound love Tess and no one has seen him in a half hour.
Two guys have their backs pushed against Rachel's and one turns around to see what's behind him.
"Hey there," the guy says as he smiles at Rachel. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Without blinking, Rachel reaches out and grabs Finn's hand that was resting on the table and intertwines her fingers with his.
"Oh no thank you. I don't think my boyfriend here would approve." She squeezing Finn's hand tightly and he knows he needs to follow suit.
"Yeah man, she's all mine." He pulls her hand up to his mouth and gives it a peck. Why does this feel so natural?
The guy turns back around, accepting his defeat quite easily. Puck's now eyeing them because he and Rachel are still holding hands.
"Sorry I'm not into meeting random guys at bars. Thanks for playing along." She pulls her hand away and he immediately misses it.
"Aren't I a random guy at a bar?" he asks.
"No silly! You're Tina's boyfriends friend! Far from a random guy."
He starts to wonder about his theory after all. If he hadn't come tonight he wouldn't be sitting here across from a pretty girl with big brown eyes and a giant smile.
"So you need me to pretend to be your boyfriend all night to ward off any scary encounters?" he squeezes her hand that rests under his.
She rubs her thumb across the top of his hand. "Yep! Who knows who could walk in here!"
"I guess I can handle that." He can't help but notice how her hand fits perfectly in his.
"What's your middle name Finn Hudson?" She asks as the waitress drops off her second Mango-Rita.
"Christopher. And yours?"
"You have to guess!"
"That's not fair! I told you mine right away!" Finn feels giddy because he and Rachel have been talking for a good twenty minutes and it might be the easiest conversation he's ever had with a girl.
"Not my fault you gave in so easily is it?" She stands up to stretch her legs and Finn can see she's wearing these hot strappy heels, but even with those on she's still not as tall as he is sitting in a barstool.
"I guess I'm an open book," he shrugs. "Can I have a hint at least? I mean there are a billion girl names and we can be here all night if I have to guess without any help."
She props herself back up onto the barstool, her kneecap now touching Finn's. "Sure! This will be fun! Okay my hint is that my middle name is after a famous singer. GO!"
Finn considers himself well versed in music, but right now he wishes Kurt was here because he knows he won't guess it. "Mariah? Rachel Mariah Berry?" He knows he's wrong so he smiles as he says it.
Rachel laughs out loud and he's starting to think about how he can get her to do it again. "Wrong! My dad's were not fans of Mariah Carey. She wasn't even famous when I was born. Guess again."
He's wracking his brain but he's having trouble concentrating because her tiny little leg is pushing up against his. He's on his fourth beer of the night, he thinks. Everything just feels good right now. "Janet? after Janet Jackson?"
At that guess Rachel almost spits out the drink that she's trying to swallow. "How drunk are you Finn?"
"I'm not drunk AT ALL" he insists, trying to hide the fact that he's thoroughly buzzed right now. "I think you are though!"
"HAHA please I've barely had two drinks! Not even close."
Finn looks her up and down and he sees how tiny she is and there's no way she can hold much alcohol when she barely weighs anything. "Sure Rachel."
"Finn I'm serious! I'm not even buzzed." She smirks a little admitting defeat and he shakes his head.
"Okay onto my next guess..."
A half hour later Finn has gone through 20 names of singers, each making her laugh. At one point he just started guessing random names to make her smile.
"I give up Rachel. At this point you probably don't even have a middle name. Let me see your license!"
Rachel grabs her small purse and clutches it tightly. "I'm not letting a random stranger look at my license. That's dangerous Finn."
He knows she's joking by the tone in her voice. "I thought you just said I wasn't a random stranger! That hurts my feelings Rachel." He pretends to wipe a tear from his eye as she rolls hers at him in return."
"Fine! It's Barbra. After Barbra Streisand."
"Who? Who is Barbra Streisand?"
Rachel's eyes grow wide. "You don't know who she is? She's only the most iconic singer of our time!"
"I mean maybe her name sounds familiar, but that wasn't even on my radar. Sorry." Finn feels defeated, like he's let her down in some way.
"Well we will have to change that. She needs to be on your radar because she inspired me to be the serious actress that I am." She throws her arm over her forehead and sighs dramatically. "I have every record of hers and a real old record player so you can come over and listen with me okay?"
"Two dates? You've now invited me to your play and your house. Moving a little fast are we?" He leans in closer to her so he can hear her response.
"Shut up Finn! Maybe I just don't like to waste time?" She now pushes both of her knees in-between Finn's legs, so his body is forming a fort around her.
"Rachel Barbra Berry. I like that." He grabs both hands so that they're resting in his.
Rachel leans over and places a soft kiss on his lips. "I like you."
He thinks bars might be the perfect place to meet someone.
Puck shows back up again at the table with a round of shots for everyone, Quinn hanging off of his arm. "Okay, everyone grab a shot! This night needs to get a little kick to it!" The shots are bright red and no one even asks what's in it. Once someone shows up with shots after midnight, it doesn't matter. They all take one, clink their shot glasses together in the air, and throw them back.
Finn looks over to see Rachel wincing a bit as she swallows.
"You okay there big drinker?" he jokes.
"Hell yes! Let's do another!" The entire table cheered and Rachel gave him a high five. "I'm not even a little drunk right now." She laughs loudly as she sinks into his side, wrapping her arm around him. "I'm totally sober."
Finn rubs his hand on her bare shoulder, her soft skin warm to the touch. "Sure you are," he winks down at her. "I'll just call you Sober Sally because you probably could drive us all home if we need you to." He caught the scent of her perfume since she was standing so close. It was a mix of flowers and vanilla and he thinks this might be his new favorite scent. Hopefully he gets to smell it again.
"I totally am Finn! Scouts honor!" She holds three fingers in the air in some sort of salute as she clings to his side to stay upright.
He can't help but grin as she stands there so serious, swearing she isn't drunk at all.
Quinn comes over and pulls Rachel to the ladies room leaving Finn and Puck to wait for the next round of shots.
"It's 12:45 Hudson! Are you going to disappear soon? You never stay at bars this late anymore." Puck glances to the bar to see if the waitress will be returning soon.
"Nah I'm actually having a good time. I'll stay a little longer."
"Wait is this because of Rachel? Did Finn Hudson actually meet a nice girl in a BAR? Well shit! Miracles do happen!"
Finn flips him off because he's being annoying but also has a point. "Yeah, she's...really cool."
He looks up to see Quinn and Rachel returning from the bathroom holding hands. That's girl code for 'we just had a good conversation in the bathroom while drunk'. He hopes he was the topic of their conversation.
"We're back!" Quinn announces as she hops over to the table. "Did ya miss me?" she asks Puck.
"Of course I did!" Puck answers. Finn's not sure how true that is. Puck was infamous for telling girls whatever they wanted to sleep with them. He had noticed lately that Puck had been more tame about that though. "Were you guys talking about me in the bathroom?"
Quinn giggled and Rachel just smiled widely. "Maybe," Quinn answers as she twirls her blond hair around her finger.
The second round of shots arrives and Puck passes them out to the group again. Tina is sufficiently wasted and passes so Mike ends up doing two shots in her place.
"I'll race ya!" Rachel says holding her shot glass in the air.
"Rachel its a shot, not a beer , but okay!" Finn downs the shot before Rachel has a chance to react. "I won!"
"Finn that's not fair! You didn't even tell me we were starting!" She chugs back the shot and slams the glass down onto the table. "Just for that, you have to come dance with me! Don't even argue."
Rachel grabs his hand and Puck, Sam, and Mike are laughing hysterically because they all know he hates dancing. At his height he can't dance at all, and everyone can usually watch how horrible he is as he towers over the crowd.
Rachel immediately lets go of his hand as they reach the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the bar. They're playing some remix of "Shut up and dance with me" which is ironic in itself. He can tell Rachel loves this song because she is not only dancing but also singing along loudly. He stands still just watching her, lost in how adorable she is bouncing around.
"Come on Finn, you have to MOVE your body if you're dancing. You can't just stand there!" she shouts.
Finn's well on his way to drunk right now, but not so much that he doesn't know what's going on. He does know that if Rachel wants him to dance right now he's going to do it because he doesn't want to do anything to make her leave. He starts to move back and forth to the music, knowing he's off beat. She appreciates his effort, nodding at him as he moves. He feels awkward because his body just cannot be cool while dancing.
The next thing he knows he starts doing the running man. He blames the alcohol because he didn't even know he could do the running man, but here he was clearing the dance floor with his killer 80's dance moves. He's overly confident and probably feels like he looks way cooler than he is.
Rachel starts laughing so hard that she's bent over clutching her stomach. Normally he would have been embarrassed, but the alcohol was in charge so he grabbed her hands so she could join him.
"Oh my god stop," she manages to get out in between laughs. "Seriously Finn, I'm not doing the running man with you."
He's still moving his legs in the running formation while holding her hands. "You wanted to dance so I'm dancing. You didn't say HOW I needed to dance. Take it or leave it!" Finn bows in front of her just to be dramatic.
He stops his superb running man and starts doing the sprinkler move. Rachel jumps up to pull his arms down, but she isn't tall enough to reach them.
"You jealous of my dance moves Rachel? Does this make you glad you forced me to dance with you?" He starts flailing his arms around like an Octopus as he crosses his eyes at her, making himself look as ridiculous as possible.
"You win! The dancing is over Mr. Showoff!" She grabs his hand again and Finn views this as a sign that she's not mad about his antics. She drags him back to the table and there's another round of drinks sitting there waiting for everyone. He doesn't remember ordering them but its their exact order and he is pretty thirsty after all of that dancing.
Rachel hops back onto the barstool and Finn stands beside her. His seat is now occupied by Quinn who is making out with Puck.
"I've learned my lesson. You aren't a dancer. Point proven." She gently grabs his hand, wrapping hers around his pinkie finger.
"Where are Mike and Tina?" he asks Sam, interrupting his conversation with Tess.
"Oh Tina was a little overserved so they left. He didn't want her throwing up in the bar." Sam laughs a little and then turns back to Tess, not interested in furthering their conversation about Mike.
Rachel takes a giant sip of her fresh Mango-Rita upon hearing the news. "Oh well, she'll be missing out on all of the fun then," she says licking her lips. "Man this is the best drink I've had all night!"
"This is like your fourth one." He takes a sip of his fresh beer watching her drink her orange drink. He doesn't miss the way her hand still dangles from his. She let's go to put both hands around her drink.
"Well this one is the BEST one so far. Want to try it?" She holds up her glass towards his face.
"No, I don't do tequila. Too many bad nights in college. Bad memories." He makes a gagging gesture as she rolls her eyes.
"Suit yourself then. Keep drinking that gross beer instead." She clicks her heels into the top rung of the barstool and stands up so she's at eye level with Finn. He's never eye level with any girl he's been with and it catches him off guard. She leans forward, grabbing his face with her hands, cold from holding her drink.
"Hi there." Finn leans in and kisses her and its different than the kiss they had a few hours ago now. Her mouth and tongue are cold and he can taste the artificial mango flavoring from her drink. She deepens the kiss and he swears he hears her moan, and for a moment he forgets that they're making out in a bar like college kids. He wraps his arms around her waist as her arms find their way around his neck.
"Get it Hudson!" Puck shouts, causing them to pull apart. "Get it!"
If Rachel wasn't so amazing he would punch Puck in the face right now. He turns back around and Rachel's just standing there, still handing onto him so she won't fall off the stool, and she's smiling.
"Sorry, he's an idiot. Quinn doesn't seem to mind though."
She doesn't reply, just pulls him towards her to kiss him again.
"Let's go to a Karaoke bar! I'm dying to sing!" He'll learn later that when Rachel consumes any amount of alcohol, her need to perform increases by at least 60%.
"Sing? I thought you were a SERIOUS actress?"
"I sing too! I'm amazing! Oh wait, the DJ has a microphone! I'm gonna steal it!" Before Finn can even process what's happening, Rachel runs over to the DJ and she can see her arguing with him. He keeps shaking his head no and Rachel's arms are flailing back and forth. Finn decides to go save him.
"Come on Rachel. Come back to the table." The DJ gives him a look like he wants to murder Rachel.
"Finn! He won't let me sing! So rude." Rachel rolls her eyes as Finn grabs her hand and brings her back to the table.
Rachel huffs and crosses her arms after hopping back into her seat.
"Hey, don't pout. Just sing here. For me. Whatever comes on next." Finn pushes Rachel's hair behind her ear and she smiles softly.
"Okay. Sure!"
The DJ decided to go on a break and put on a playlist to play. The next song was a remix of "Something Like This" by Coldplay and The Chainsmokers.
"You know this song?" He asks raising his eyebrows at her.
"I mean I guess, but it will hardly showcase my voice."
He sees her take a deep breathe in and lean closer. "I need to sing in your ear so you can actually hear me. It's too loud otherwise." Before he can respond the lyrics start and she starts singing too.
I've been reading books of old
The legends and the myths
Achilles and his gold
Hercules and his gifts
Spiderman's control
And Batman with his fists
And clearly I don't see myself upon that list
But she said, where'd you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I'm not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss
Finn stops her at that verse because if she keeps singing in his ear he's going to want to take her home right this minute. He pulls away from her, his cheeks red.
"Wow, you are really good." He kisses her, more passionately than before, disregarding the fact that its now close to 2 am and they're both more than a little drunk.
She pulls back and smiles. "I know I am."
He laughs at her boldness and he can't believe he's only known her for four hours. He hasn't spent this much time with a girl since Mara dumped him and with Rachel he doesn't ever want this night to end.
"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asks, stirring her straw into her now melted drink.
Finn isn't known for his way with the ladies, and normally he would regret the next statement that comes out of his mouth, but tonight he doesn't.
"I'm thinking about how I'm going to marry you." He should be embarrassed or expecting her to run, but she doesn't. She just laughs.
"How drunk are you Finn? You can't be telling girls you're going to marry them. You'll scare them away!"
"Am I scaring you away?"
Rachel shakes her head slowly. "No." She nods her head a little when she says it and grows quiet. "You shouldn't say things you don't mean Finn. You just met me four hours ago." She avoids eye contact with him and backs into the stool next to him.
"I mean it. I'd bet my life on it. Or the name of our first born. You choose." He isn't sure what has come over him, but he just knows. In four hours time he just knows he's going to marry her. He never believed in that, because he thought it was crap. However, four hours with her and he sees it all. The white dress, the kids, everything. Plus Kurt will love her.
She laughs again which lightens the mood. "Let's not be betting your life on it, but you can name our first born. Why not?" She rolls her eyes and Finn knows she isn't taking him seriously.
"Let' shake on it. If we get married, I get full rights to name our first born. NO exceptions." He puts his hand out and she smiles and shakes it.
Finn fist bumps the air. "Oh man, I can't wait until we have a son. Little Blaze Hudson will be amazing." He keeps a straight face as he sees her eyes grow wide.
"Blaze? No way. Nope. Not happening."
"But YOU shook on it. Are you going back on your word? My heart..my little Blaze being taken away from me already. " Finn places his hands over his heart like he's in pain and she starts laughing again. Honestly he's beginning to thing he's a real life comedian at how much he can make her laugh.
"Finn come on! I thought you were going to say Finn Jr. or something? Wait, why am I even arguing about this with a man I just met?"
Finn shrugs and takes chugs what's left of his now warm beer. Maybe he had taken it a little too far, but she was still sitting next to him and hadn't run away yet.
He spots Puck and Quinn coming back to the table. Puck gives Finn a high five and then turns to Rachel.
"I don't know what kind of voodoo you've put on him tonight, but I haven't seen Finn out past midnight in ages."
Finn punches Puck in the arm. "Shut up dude."
"Ow! Alright. Well Quinn and I are going to head out. Can you make sure Rachel gets home safely?" Quinn blushes as she clings to Puck's arm. Finn should be surprised but he's not. Of course Puck would hook up with Quinn. He's shocked they hadn't left earlier.
"Yeah, I'll get her home safely."
Quinn whispers something into Rachel's ear and they both start laughing. "Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Rachel whispers back.
Puck and Quinn practically run out of the bar.
"Finn, you don't need to take me home, I'm fine."
"Rachel its late. I'm taking you home. No funny business I promise. Just let me know when you're ready."
Apparently she wasn't ready because she orders another round of drinks and then begins to talk his ear off. She talks about her family and the plays she been in recently. She does manage to ask him a few questions about his own family and if he's ever been to Europe. He's trying to pay attention. He really is. It's just so late and she's so pretty and his mind is turning to mush.
Around 3:15 in the morning she yawns and decides they'd better head out. The bar crowd has thinned and they'd managed to sit and hog up one table for most of the night. He realizes with Rachel he was never bored.
Rachel puts on her coat and hooks her arm around Finn's before they head out. The cold air of Fall slaps them in the face once they hit the sidewalk.
"Well this should wake me up. It's freezing!" Rachel pulls her coat closer to her body as they head towards her apartment. "I'm only a few blocks from here. Thanks for walking me."
He puts his arm around her and pulls her against his body for warmth. "There, does that help? I should be blocking the wind."
She sinks into his side as they continue down the street, inhaling the scent of his cologne. "Yes it's helping thank you. I'm realizing that I can fit underneath your arms even with heels on."
"My height can have its perks."
They walk in silence, Rachel having to walk fast to keep up with Finn. She has to take three steps for every one that he takes. He notices this and slows down his pace for her.
They arrive at her building, a small walk up with only 8 units. "This is me. Thanks for walking me home Finn."
He panics when he realizes they never exchanged numbers. "You're welcome. Can I give you my number Rachel?"
She blushes as she pushes her hair behind her ears. "Of course!"
He hands over his phone as she types quickly. He notices how delicate her hands are, the pink tone showing how cold she is. As she hands the phone back, he kisses her softly on the lips.
"Now go inside and warm up. I'm calling you and taking you to lunch in approximately 9 hours so get some rest." He turns and walks down the steps as she opens the door to her building. He reaches the bottom before he hears her calling his name.
"Finn?"
"Yeah?" he turns to look back at her.
"You might be able to persuade me on the name Blaze." She laughs and rushes into the building, slamming the door behind her.
Finn feels like his heart might explode. She feels it too. She must.
He whips out his phone and calls Kurt. He knows he's going to be so pissed he's waking him up but he doesn't care.
It rings twice before Kurt answers. "Finn? What's wrong?" He can hear the rustling of sheets in the background.
"I met my future wife tonight Kurt. I just wanted to let you know." Finn picks up his pace because his apartment isn't exactly close and there isn't a cab in sight. He's freezing.
"Finn are you drunk?"
"Maybe."
"Do you need me to come get you?"
"Kurt I'm an adult man. No. Can't you just be happy for me? I met my WIFE tonight."
He hears a loud sigh from Kurt on the other side of the phone. "Okay Finn. Can I call you tomorrow and you can tell me all about it? It's the middle of the night."
"Her name is Rachel and she has the most amazing Brown eyes and-"
Kurt hangs up before he can finish.
He wants to talk to someone about this, but doesn't have any options this late. His mom would definitely kill him if he called this late and it wasn't an emergency. Puck and Sam were probably having sex right now. Mike left the bar hours ago. He'll have to wait until the morning.
He's distracted thinking about her the entire walk home, so before he knows it he's at the entrance to his building. After stumbling inside the door, he hangs up his coat and retrieves the phone out of his pocket. Somehow he falls onto his bed, kicking his shoes off as he scrolls through to find her name. He sends her a text simply stating "Goodnight" before he passes out.
He awakes six hours later at 10 am and immediately feels the affects of staying out too late and drinking. His mouth is dry and he opens his eyes to find himself still in his clothes from last night. "This is why I don't do bars," he says out loud as he rolls over. He sees his phone laying next to his pillow and his memory is jogged of the events that occurred last night.
He frantically looks to see if Rachel has texted him back. There's nothing from her, a text from Puck with some sexual emojis, and three from Kurt asking if he's alive. His heart sinks a little, wondering if she was avoiding him. Did he imagine how good last night was? Because it was really really good. Then he remembers he told Rachel he was going to marry her. "Dammit!" he screams as he punches his pillow. He knows he blew it with her, but he can't help it because he totally meant it. She was going to be his wife. Well she will be if she doesn't totally avoid Finn forever.
Finn remembers telling her they'd go out to lunch today, so he hops in the shower and places his phone on the counter. He doesn't want to miss her if she calls.
She doesn't call. It's almost noon so he heads out for a walk, trying to clear his head. He's just about to enter a cafe not too far from his house when his phone starts to ring.
He sees her name lit up across the screen and answers immediately. "Hey Rachel! What's up?" He tries to play it cool because he isn't sure how much she remembers from last night.
"Hi! I'm sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I forgot I had a quick meeting at work this morning about some changes and I had to rush out. I'm free for lunch if the offer still stands."
Finn stops himself from jumping in the middle of the sidewalk out of pure joy. "Yeah, where do you want to go?"
She rattles off an address not to far from the bar they were at last night and he practically runs to get there.
He's out of breath when he sees her standing outside of the cafe, bundled up in jeans and a hoodie. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun and she has a bag thrown over her shoulder. She smiles when she sees him.
"Hi," she says softly as he grabs her hand.
"I'm glad you called." He leads her into the cafe and his fears that he ruined things with her the night before dissolve.
Rachel's crying by the time Finn finishes. They'd finished a bottle of champagne as Finn spoke, remembering details of that night that they had never spoken about since they happened.
"Finn, how on Earth did you remember all of that? I had completely forgotten that half of that stuff happened! I don't think I fought the DJ for the microphone though. That sounds extreme."
Finn laughs loudly. "Are you serious? That event was probably the most Rachel thing that happened! Just a few weeks ago you got mad when Tina wouldn't let you sing a song at her bridal shower!"
Rachel rolls her eyes. "Well I had the perfect song for the occasion!"
"You did fall for me right away though, you couldn't resist." Finn starts to do the running man in the middle of the hotel room which sends Rachel into a fit of laughter.
"Oh please you couldn't resist ME." She starts to undress and pulls down her gown slowly. Finn likes where this is going.
"Well that might be true, but I told you I was going to marry you and I did, so you know what that means." Finn rips off his knee high socks and throws them across the room.
"No way Finn. You are not naming our first born Blaze. No freaking way." She walks towards him and starts unbuttoning his shirt.
"You said you could be persuaded, so let me persuade you." He kisses her passionately as she tries to unbutton the last button on his tuxedo shirt. She gets impatient though and rips it, sending the button flying to the ground.
"It will never happen Finn." Finn reaches up to remove the veil that is pinned to the back of her head. "No," she says pulling his hand away. "The veil stays on."
A year and a half later, Rachel's sitting in a hospital bed holding their newborn son. Finn can't wipe the smile off that is spread across his face. He physically can't stop smiling.
"We made a human Finn. Like he's sitting right here in my arms." Rachel rubs the sleeping newborns cheek as she feels Finn's hand rub her back.
"It's crazy. Yesterday he was inside and now he's out. How does it feel little guy? Do you like it out here?" He kisses Rachel's cheek and she hands the baby over to him.
Rachel leans back, soaking in the sight of her husband and son. "We have to name him eventually. It's not his fault we couldn't figure out a name that wasn't Blaze."
That name had come up in conversation as a joke many times, both of them knowing it wasn't going to happen. However, most of the pregnancy that's what they called him.
"I thought I'd know when I saw him, but he just sort of looks like an old cute version of me right now. I guess this is how I'll look with a receding hairline huh buddy?" Finn rubs the baby's tiny tuft of light brown hair between his fingers.
"He totally looks like an old man version of you," she laughs. "You know our families are going to start beating down the door if we don't name that baby and let them in." She pauses for a moment. "What about Jack?"
"Rachel, I met you in a bar, I don't need to have my baby named after a bar too." He rolls his eyes at the thought.
"I don't know Finn, Jack Hudson does sound super cool. And if it wasn't for Jack's Saloon you wouldn't be holding him right now would you?"
Finn looks down at the sleeping newborn in his arms. "What do you think? Jack? Do you like it buddy?" The baby yawns and is unimpressed. "Could his middle name be Blaze?" He smirks at Rachel, waiting for a reaction.
"I'm not even going to answer that. Now hand Jack to me and go tell everyone the news. The middle name can be decided later."
Finn gives Jack a kiss and kisses Rachel too. "You ready for this mayhem? They've been sitting out there all night and don't even know he was born an hour ago."
"Ready as I'll ever be." She places Jack against her chest, feeling the weight of his tiny body against hers. "Don't tell daddy I would have totally named you Blaze," she whispers to Jack.
Finn rushes out to tell everyone that baby Jack was here. One day he would tell his son how he got his name. He'll say he was named after the place where he fell in love with the most amazing woman. They owe everything to one fateful night in a bar.
Has Finn every said now much he loves going to bars? He really loves them.
Hope you enjoyed this little one shot! It was an easy one to write and a huge thanks to the person who wrote that song that inspired this piece. I love and appreciate all of your feedback :)