Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, Finn or Rachel.
Summary: A/U. College can be one of the toughest times in someones life. Can a new friendship make things easier? Finchel. slight Quick.
Rating: T for now. May go up at a later point in time.
Chapter One: Not Afraid
I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid)
To take a stand (to take a stand)
Everybody (everybody)
Come take my hand (come take my hand)
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just lettin you know that, you're not alone
Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road (same road)
His feet hit the wet pavement as he ran along the road that circled the campus, it had rained the night before and the ground was still wet and the air still damp. The brisk October air causing his face to red as he pulled his hood up a bit to get more coverage. The ear buds nestled snugly in his ear as the music poured out. Eminem's Not Afraid. Usually not something he'd normally listen to, but there was something about this song that got his heart beating. He closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, he could run this road with his eyes closed. He had started running every morning at the same time, rain or shine, snow or ice. He knew he was crazy, especially given how many times he wiped out on the ice, but he always just got himself up and just kept going. It was only three years ago that he thought his life would have completely gone a different way. Star quarterback at his high school, college scouts were interested, his road was paved. Then in one day it all changed, what he had dreamed of came shattering down. His knee was done, and with it any chance of a college football career. No one wanted to give a scholarship to someone who was old news, someone who would never be able to play like had once had. Three surgeries and months of recovery gave him the ability to start running again, but it didn't matter, he had to find a new path, a new dream.
The Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase. He had found the school catalog on the kitchen table, it was one of the schools his step-brother was applying to, and after looking into it he decided it was where he wanted to go. Especially as he read up on the percussion program. He was still on the crutches, still not sure what he was going to do with his future at this time. He hadn't even gone to his parents yet, but then, it was like he just knew. He recruited his step-brother to help him apply and set up the audition tape. And for the first time in a long time he was actually excited. He practiced day and night, he wanted to master everything he needed. He had sworn his step-brother to secrecy until he was ready to approach their parents.
His mother and step-father had been shocked when he came to them saying he wanted to study music. It wasn't that he wasn't musically inclined, quite the opposite really. He had been playing the drums since childhood and he was actually pretty good, of course he never wanted to toot his own horn or anything. It was just, he spent his whole life wanting to play football and he wasn't even going to try? He wasn't going to live on false hope. His step-father suggested him trying to go play for a junior college team. No one but him and the doctors seemed to understand that it was not going to be the same, he would never be who he was and well he didn't want to keep trying. He wanted a fresh start, he wanted to be able to follow a new path without hating the fact he would never be up to par as his former self. There was no way they didn't notice the disappointment on his face when it seemed like they weren't going to support him in this decision. They asked why music? That was his step-brothers thing along with acting, but couldn't it be his thing? His mother stared at him for a long time after the questions ended, a smile appearing on his face she said she'd support his decision and would even fly with him to New York when he would have to audition. He remembered hugging both of them tightly, telling them thank you, even though he didn't really have anything to be exactly be thankful for yet. This was just a step, a step down a long road that he was going to have to face, but with their support he knew he'd be able to do it.
He opened his eyes as he heard a car driving by, sparking his interest due to the fact he rarely ever saw cars this early on a Saturday when he ran. He let his eyes follow them as they pulled into the same parking lot his car was in. For a brief moment he wondered if it was a visitor, which sucked because he wondered if he they knew they were going to get a ticket. The school had annoyingly strict rules when it came to non-students parking in the student lots when the semesters were in session. As he got closer, slowly moving off the road as he headed to the path to bring him to his on-premise apartment, he noticed the car was being unloaded. Why would someone be unloading stuff now? It was already October, and from the looks of it this person was moving in. He shrugged his shoulders as he headed up the pathway that brought him through the front of the apartments before coming to a halt. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch is breath. His knee bothered him most days, but not enough to cause him to stop what he was doing.
As he moved to stand fully, his eyes fell upon a girl holding a comforter and sheets, as well as a huge bag draped over her shoulder. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow as he approached slowly, she was walking towards the same stairwell he lived by. Who was this girl? He shrugged his shoulders before watching her walk up the stairs to one of the apartments upstairs as he headed into his own. Once inside he made a pit stop to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before turning towards the island in the kitchen. He put down the bottle as he pushed his hood off of his head and removed the ear buds from his ears and placed his iPod on the counter. His attention quickly turned to the bathroom as he heard a toilet flushing, obviously one of his three roommates were up. Having three roommates wasn't always the easiest thing, but then again it wasn't that bad. This year he was in Alumni Village, which was one of the three apartment complexes on school grounds. It was a little bit more money, but it was newer and well he had his own room so in the end it was worth it.
"Do you ever sleep in, Hudson?" A yawning voice asked as the bathroom door opened. Noah Puckerman, or as he liked to be called, Puck. They had met freshman year, having been placed in three of the same classes that fall semester. Where his area of study was percussion, Puck's was classical guitar. "I mean seriously, Finn. We've been friends for what, two years now and you are up way too early."
Finn let a chuckle escape his lips as he shook his head, "Honestly, this whole waking up early thing really didn't start till I came here." And it was the truth, most of the time, especially in high school he liked to sleep in as long as possible. Now, well, he just felt like when he slept in he was missing out on something. "Hey, I think some chick is moving in upstairs." Puck moved to the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice and started to drink it straight from the carton, causing Finn to roll his eyes, "I fucking drink that shit too, dickhead."
"Yeah, yeah-," he put it back into the fridge and kicked the door shut before releasing another yawn and looking to Finn. "Yeah, remember that girl Cassey that moved in upstairs?"
"What about her?"
"Apparently she already dropped out," Puck said with a shrug of his shoulders, "Quinn was telling me last night when we were making out." He reached up to scratch his stomach, since he clearly did not bother to put on a shirt before going to the bathroom, "Anyway, I guess some girl had been waiting to get into the apartments so she is their new roommate or some shit like that."
Finn just nodded, it pretty much explained why the girl was moving stuff in, "Ahh.. okay."
"Why? Did you see her or something?"
"Outside," he pulled off his hoodie, his shirt sliding up slowly. "I was confused."
"Is she hot?" Puck walked towards the door and looked through the peephole hoping to see something, or rather someone. "Crap, I can't see shit... WAIT WAIT! I see a leg! There's a leg!" He tried to move a little to the side to get a better angle, "Dude, I'm getting some skirt action! I love living under the staircase."
"You're a pervert," Finn rolled his eyes as he opened up his water to take another sip, "I'm going to probably hop in the shower, you working today?"
"What?" he turned towards Finn ad rolled his eyes, "Look who is talking, I clearly remember you begging that chick at the party a couple weeks ago to show you her boobs." As the words left Puck's mouth Finn couldn't help but wince, that definitely was not one of his shining moments. Sure, he clearly was a guy and the chick seemed like she had a nice rack, but he definitely shouldn't have offered to pay her 50 bucks to see them. Did he even have 50 bucks? He reached up to touch his cheek, remembering how fucking hard that girl smacked him over that. "I still don't know why she didn't take the money, I mean you fucking offered her fifty bucks to see those fucking knockers. I would have taken it if someone asked to see my dick."
He decided not to even bother to respond to Puck anymore, or ask if he was working again since it clearly went in one ear and out the other. He headed into his room and kicked off his sneakers before pulling open his closet, which was a fucking wreck and pulled down his towel. He wanted to try to get in a shower before Mike and their other roommate tried to get in there. God, he hated that fucking Jacob kid, he was so fucking creepy and he really wished he would leave. Rolling his eyes he headed back out into the apartment, noticing almost immediately that Puck had retreated to his bedroom. As he slowly approached the bathroom he could see the door closest to it starting to open, Jacob's door. Finn darted passed it and slipped into the bathroom slamming the door shut.
When she got the phone call that there was an opening in Alumni Village, she almost jumped for joy. Okay, she actually did jump for joy. There had apparently been some mix up and for the first two months she had to be forced to live in this one really small room that was just not up to par in her eyes what so ever. Of course, she wasn't going to complain, even though part of her really wanted to. She had hoped that she was going to be able to be in one of the apartments with Mercedes and Tina, but instead she was going to be roommates with three girls that she had no idea who they were. It was funny how that worked, you go to school with people for two years of your life, but unlike high school, in college it's rare to know that many people. Anyway, she was hoping this wouldn't end up being too bad. They had told her she could move in on Saturday, since the girls room she was taking over had to be out by Friday.
She knew it was pretty early to start moving in, and more than likely some or all her roommates were probably still asleep. Slipping the key into the lock, she slipped into the apartment, a huge smile appearing on her face. She was so looking forward to being able to not have to eat down at the main dining hall or the hub everyday. Sure, some days she loved doing that, but she was a vegetarian and well, she missed cooking for herself. Finding her room, she unlocked the door and slipped inside. Sighing contently as she began to unload her stuff and set up her room. She was done within an hour, a huge smile on her face as she took a step back to look over what she had just put together. She gave herself a pat on the back before turning around to see someone walking by, "hello!"
The greeting startled the blonde as she came to a halt and turned toward the room that had been empty last night. There in front of her stood a girl around her height with brown hair, "Uh hi?"
She stepped out of the room and held out her hand, "I'm Rachel Berry, I'm guessing you're one of my roommates?"
With a nod the blonde responded as she shook the girls hand, "I'm Quinn Fabray." She really wasn't sure what else to say? Why the hell was this girl so bubbly? And damn was her grip way too strong for this early in the morning. "I hope you don't mind, I was going to head to the bathroom... uh welcome around." Quinn turned on her heel and rolled her eyes as the girl made a comment about getting to know each other later, like that was actually going to happen.
After she headed into the bathroom she closed the door and sighed, "What time is it?" she whispered to herself, did she sleep way too late or something? If not, why the hell was the new girl moving in this early in the morning? God, she just wanted to go back to bed. Truthfully, when Quinn heard they were getting another roommate she groaned. She didn't even bother talking to the other two anyway, they did their own things and Quinn had no care in the world about getting to them, or getting to know this Rachel Berry girl.
With Rachel having everything in her room unpacked she headed into the kitchen to survey everything. Opening the fridge she saw it was pretty bare and what there was in the fridge all had labels for each roommate. She made a mental note to get sticky notes and a black marker or something so she would be able to label her own stuff once she bought it. Figuring she didn't have anything to do today, having took the day off to move in she'd head down to the grocery store and buy some stuff. As she closed the fridge door she noticed Quinn emerging from the bathroom, a huge smile appearing on her face as she turned to her, "Hi Quinn, I was about to go and get some groceries and wanted to know if you either wanted to come along with me or even needed me to pick anything up for you?"
Quinn stopped dead in her tracks and unenthusiastically stared at this girl, "No."
Rachel nervously bit on her bottom lip and nodded, "Okay then, I'll just see you later." She grabbed her purse off of the counter and gave Quinn a little wave and smile before heading out of the apartment and down the stairs. Once her foot hit the pavement she turned around when she heard something and smiled as she saw someone coming out of their apartment with a bag of garbage in their hand. He was a very tall guy, she'd say well over 6 feet and when he spotted her he gave her a kind of lopsided grin. She lifted her hand and gave him a little wave before turning back and headed down to the parking lot.
"She was way too energetic for that fucking early in the morning!" Quinn moaned as she leaned her head back against the couch in Puck and Finn's apartment. "Seriously, like I wake up and she's already undone packing and asking me to go food shopping with her? And god, not to mention she dresses like a preschooler." Quinn and Puck were 'dating', it wasn't officially or anything apparently but Finn just wished they'd put a label on it already. Not that he was all for them dating, he just figured it was time to, especially given the fact she was always fucking over.
"I saw her through the peephole," Puck admitted but immediately regretted it when he saw the look on Quinn's face. He quickly cleared his throat and lied, "I thought someone was at the door. Finn saw her though I think, right Finn?"
He was in the kitchen area making a sandwich when he realized he had just been pulled into a conversation, "What?"
"You saw that new girl moving in upstairs or something..."
Finn nodded, "Yeah, when I was out for my morning run, which really wasn't that early," he made sure to muttered the last part under his breath, because honestly he hated when Quinn glared at him. "I saw her when I took out the garbage as well, she didn't seem bad."
"That's because you didn't have to hear her talk," Quinn groaned again, god was she going to just shut up? Finn wondered as he took the first bite of his sandwich. "Oh god, and when she got back from buying the groceries, all she did was yap yap yap, asking me about what classes I take and my major and all this stuff. I honestly wanted to strangle her. I wish that Cassey girl didn't move."
"Me either," yet again as soon as the words left Puck's mouth he realized he was going to get it. Finn tried not to laugh but how could he not, he actually had seen Puck making out with the very girl they were discussing and wondered if Quinn knew about it. Then again, it really wasn't his place to start anything.
"Weren't you just complaining that you're other two roommates barely spoke a word to you?" Finn asked with a raise eyebrow as he plopped down on the kitchen table.
Quinn turned her attention towards Finn, "Well this girl talks way too much, I can't win."
"Would you stop compla-," Finn was cut off at the sound of someone knocking at the front door, "I'll get it." He pushed himself to his feet and headed over to answer it. What he didn't expect was for the girl that had just been the topic of discussion to be standing at the door. He lowered his face to her face, she looked nervous for some reason. "Uh hi.."
"Hi," Rachel nervously chewed on her lip as she looked up at the tall boy she had seen taking out garbage earlier that day, "I'm sorry for just randomly knocking on your door." She held up a cell phone, "Quinn left her cell phone on the kitchen counter and it keeps ringing and one of the roommates named- Jessica was about ready to smash it and said Quinn was probably down here sucking her-," she slowly started to blush, which only caused Finn to smile. "That she was down here with some guy named Puck so I figured I'd bring her phone down before she didn't have one anymore."
"Oh," he said before realizing he probably should say more, "Yeah- come in, Quinn's in the living room." Finn opened the door further and motioned for her to come in. He turned to look at Quinn and Puck who were starting to stand up, both obviously confused about what was going on. "Quinn, Rachel's here to see you."
Quinn rolled her eyes, which Finn figured if he could see Rachel probably could as well, "Did you need something?"
"Jessica was trying to break your phone cause it wouldn't stop ringing and she said you were down here so I figured I'd bring it down, in case it was important or something," Rachel's voice was low and sweet, was this really the same girl Quinn had been complaining about just minutes before about being too bubbly?
"Oh," Quinn nodded and walked over to take her phone from Rachel, "Thank you."
"Jessica is um," Rachel giggled softly, "Quite a character."
"You mean a ragging bitch? God I can't stand her, she has to start shit over everything all the time," Quinn actually started to feel bad about being so mean about Rachel. Then again, she did dress like a preschooler and was too bubbly, at least she had been earlier.
Quinn opened her mouth to say something but was cut off, "Hey, I'm Noah Puckerman, but you can call me Puck," he smirked cockily as he draped his arm over Quinn's shoulder.
"Nice to meet you, Noah," she completely ignored that he asked for her to call him Puck, she actually very much preferred using Noah. She turned slightly to glance back at Finn before looking back at Quinn and Puck.
"That's my roommate Finn Hudson, Finn this is Quinn's roommate-," Puck paused not actually knowing her full name, "Rachel-,"
"Rachel Berry," she turned towards Finn and went over to shake his hand, "Are you by any chance related to Kurt Hummel?" she asked curiously, a sweet smile on her face.
Finn nodded, "yeah, Kurt's my step brother, do you know him?"
"Yes," she nodded, "We have a lot of classes together," Although Rachel wouldn't exactly call Kurt a close close friend, she still considered him a friend on some level. "He's mentioned your name before, it's nice to finally put a face to the name."
He tried to think if Kurt had ever mentioned a girl named Rachel, but then again his step-brother didn't really talk about girls at all, "You too... If you're in classes with Kurt I'm guessing you're a theater major?"
"Yep!" she replied happily, "If you've ever been to any of the plays in the last two years you've probably seen me. I'm planning on being a big star one day."
Finn glanced over Rachel's head to see Quinn and Puck both rolling their eyes. "Oh?" He looked back down at her, "That's pretty cool, I may have actually seen you..." he said lying, he usually avoided the plays and well the two he had worked music on were like the seniors that graduated last year and she was definitely not among them. For some reason, Finn felt like he would remember if he had ever seen her before.
"Well," Rachel began as she looked at all three of the faces, "I'm sorry for interrupting, it was a pleasure to meet you, Noah," she smiled at him before turning back to Finn, "As well as you, Finn. I will have to tell Kurt I met you," she started heading towards the door before looking to Quinn, "I'll see you later." She waved goodbye and let herself out of the apartment.
Finn really didn't know how long he stood there staring at the door, but he felt like it was a while. He shook his head when he heard Puck laughing, "Dude, she really does dress like a preschooler, but damn that skirt was short."
Quinn rolled her eyes, "God, why do I even bother with you sometimes?" she turned and went back to sit on the couch.
"Because I'm fucking hot," he said with a laugh as he went to sit down next to her.
Finn stood there for quite some time, just well standing. There was something about that girl he couldn't put his finger on, and although she did in fact kinda dress like a preschooler, he had to admit she was quite pretty. He chuckled at that and headed into his room, when was the last time Finn Hudson ever thought a girl was pretty? Probably in grade school. He completely forgot about his sandwich as he settled at his desk and pulled out his music theory homework. Part of him kind of hoped that Quinn actually ended up getting to know her roommate cause he'd be down for seeing her around more. Mostly for the fact he really didn't want to witness Puck and Quinn sucking face on the living room couch anymore.
A/N: So this idea randomly came to me last night when this song came on in my friends car last night when i was a little on the drunk side. I have a few ideas where it could go, but I would love to get some reviews if you'd like to see me continue with this story!
