He'd known her all his life. Since the moment she first tackled him on his front lawn, in fact. It had been a normal Sunday, he'd been excited for the first day of school the next day, mainly because he'd never really had any friends before, besides his cousins who teased him too much and always found really good hiding spots when they played hide and seek so he could never manage to find them. So he was really taken by surprise when he saw a tiny figure running full speed towards him with this manic grin on her face. She had tackled him, an involuntary oof puffing out of his mouth when his back made contact with the ground. Her scruffy dress had brushed against his legs as she had scrambled upright, pulling him along with her.
"Hi! My name is Rachel Berry and I'm your new neighbor!" She had said, shaking his hand really hard before letting it go so it hung limply at his side.
He remembers thinking about running back inside his house and slamming the door in her face. But then, when he had glanced towards his house he saw his mom standing in front of it, one of those goofy smiles on her face. His chances for escape were long gone.
"Finn." He had nodded towards her, like all those bad guys always did on the TV shows mom's new boyfriend, Mike, always watched.
"Hi Finn!" she had chirped, "Wanna be my friend?"
"Uh…" No. "Sure."
And that was that. Rachel Berry would be tackling him down into the ground for the rest of his life.
She would always read to him.
After school, when her hair would be knotted and messy after a day of chasing him around the playground while the other kids laughed and pointed (it was no use running, anyway, since she would always catch him), they would walk home together. Sometimes he would try to be the first out of the door when the bell rang, that way he would be the first out of the school (and so he could avoid all the fifth grade boys that teased him and the girls that cooed at him) and he wouldn't have to walk home with her. But she always managed to catch up with him. Shouting his name and waving her arms wildly over her head while her hair whipped her face and her dress flew behind her. The unicorn backpack she always carried around only made it worse. He had to hide his groan. What made him feel worse though, was what she always said when she finally caught up to him.
"I thought you had left without me."
He would always stare at her, and her cheeks would always turn pink, and then she'd try to hug him, and he would start running again. But when they reached their houses, she would always unzip her little pink unicorn backpack and take out a book. And he wouldn't be able to help himself; he'd always get a little excited.
"Miss Pillsbury gave me a new book today. It's the second book of The Magic Tree House series. Want me to read some of it to you?"
He had to look around first, to make sure no one was watching them. He couldn't be caught actually enjoying something that he did with Rachel Berry. Once he was sure he was safe, he nodded.
"Great!" Her smile always scared him a little, but it was these days when she was so excited to read to him that he'd appreciate it.
She would lead him into her backyard and they would settle under the tiny oak tree her dads had just started growing and then she would start.
In the beginning of fourth grade, she asked him to sleep over her house. Actually, asked wouldn't be the right way to put it. She gave him a speech about it, and then she asked him.
They had been walking home from school when she suddenly stopped and grabbed his arm and looked him in the eye. He would be lying if he had said that he wasn't more than a little afraid she was going to kiss him.
"We should have a sleepover," she'd said.
His immediate response had been a groan (he didn't really work on stifling them anymore) and then, "Why?"
"We're best friends, Finn! All best friends have sleepovers! We could watch all those stupid movies you like so much and then play some board games and then go in my backyard and play hide and seek or freeze tag. I got glow in the dark star stickers in my room so we could turn the lights off and watch them-"
He was going to interrupt with how he could possibly enjoy sitting there and looking at glow in the dark stickers (although he had to admit, the other stuff sounded pretty fun as long as she didn't try to kiss him) but she kept talking.
"-and my dads said that it was completely fine as long as it was fine with your mom and we went to bed at nine and woke up to have breakfast with them before they left for work. Please, Finn?"
He could tell she was trying to make herself cry so he would give in, but he only tightened his hold on his backpack and kept walking.
"Don't you have any other friends you could have a sleepover with? Like, girls maybe?"
He knew she didn't have any other friends except for him. No one really liked to play with her because she was just too much. And he was too much of a nice guy to say no to her, especially after what his mom had told him she would do with his video games if he ever made a girl cry on purpose. But at that moment he really didn't want to have a sleepover with Rachel Berry, and he had no idea the effect his words had on her.
"Finn, you're my best friend." She tugged on his sleeve, a small frown forming.
And if anything was worse than crazy Rachel, it was mad Rachel. So he said yes.
There were a lot more sleepovers after that one. Every Friday night, to be exact. The worst part was that one day he actually found himself looking forward to them, even if they did the same thing every time.
He packed his favorite pajamas, all his video games, and his Nintendo. Rachel had even convinced her dads to buy her one (in pink, of course) so they could play together whenever they hung out. His mom would tell him to be a good boy before he left to walk next door. Rachel would answer, in her white bunny slippers with her hair in braids and light blue pajamas that had cows on them.
She invited him in and they had dinner first while watching one of Rachel's favorite shows. He noticed it was always about Rachel in this household. Then after dinner, which was usually something vegan he didn't like ("It's an acquired taste." Leroy had said, and then he had to ask Rachel what acquired meant.) and prompted Hiram to order him something he actually did like and that made him feel kind of special, he and Rachel went out to the backyard while there was still a little light out so they could sit and he could listen to her read. They had gotten through all the Magic Tree House books and were starting on Harry Potter now. Sometimes he didn't understand what was going on, and Rachel had to stop and explain it to him. But he liked it the way she explained things to him because it didn't make him feel stupid, like their 4th grade teacher did. Plus, every time he asked a question the class would laugh. Only Rachel would have the patience to sit there and explain things slowly.
After reading, they went up to her room and turned on their Nintendo's. What he liked best about this part of the night was that she never argued with him when he picked Mario CKart over everything else, even if he always beat her. And if he knew Rachel Berry, he definitely knew that she never liked being beat. So yeah, that made him feel really special, too.
They always went back downstairs to her basement and tried to watch a movie but fell asleep and then magically woke up back in Rachel's room in the morning (her on her pink bed surrounded with stuffed animals and him on the air mattress that was also surrounded by stuffed animals).
And then in the morning, when they woke up, Rachel said good morning to all her stuffed animals (and okay, maybe sometimes he would secretly join in to say it to Oscar, who was his favorite because he was a blue teddy bear that held a trident) and then they would go back downstairs to have breakfast which would leave him stuffed and his mouth sticky with syrup.
Then he would go home, unsure if he was missing Rachel or her dad's amazing pancakes.
By fifth grade, when he was actually happy to play tag with Rachel and to play hide and seek with her and to read with her, he found out that it was actually uncool.
"My name's Puck. What's yours?"
"Finn."
He knew immediately what Rachel would have said if she'd have saw this kid. "He has a Mohawk, Finn. A Mohawk. How do you expect me to take this boy seriously with a Mohawk on his head?"
But it actually looked kind of awesome. What other fifth grader walked around with sleeveless shirts and a Mohawk? Plus, Finn always saw him talking to that pretty (yeah, girls were pretty now, so what?) girl Quinn Fabray. Her hair looked so soft Finn was always finding himself staring at it and wishing to run his fingers through. Plus, it's not like Rachel didn't point it out often enough with that little frown on her face.
"So Finn, do you enjoy hanging around elves?"
"Uh, what?"
He could tell Puck was trying to hold in a laugh, and one part of him was mad that this kid was obviously making fun of him while the other part just felt stupid.
"Elves. I asked if you like being friends with elves."
Finn was saved answered when he felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down. Even though they were only in fifth grade, Rachel was still actually really short for her age, and Finn guessed he had never really noticed that small detail until now.
"He's referring to my size, Finn. Noah-"
"My name's Puck." The kid looked like he was about to pounce but Rachel only rolled her eyes.
"Noah, honestly if this is your method of bullying me I suggest you find a new insult." Her right hand went on her hip while her other still gripped Finn's sleeve. "Come on, Finn."
Puck's smirk was back in place when Finn glanced back over his shoulder as he and Rachel were walking away. Finn frowned, knowing this wasn't gonna go away.
The next day at recess Puck asked him to play kickball with some others kids. He was kind of surprised, but said yes anyways. Anything to get on Puck's good side again and stop the teasing.
They were just setting up the teams when Rachel walked up. He could tell she was being careful not to get her penny loafers dirty with the orange clay. She grinned at him when she saw him looking, and was about to approach when Puck appeared, blocking her path. He saw her grin disappear instantly.
"What are you doing here?" He heard Puck ask.
"Well I'm here to play kickball, Noah. I thought your stupid brain would at least know that." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, and he could tell she was already mad.
Puck sneered. "No elves allowed."
"What?" Rachel's arms to fell to her sides, and Finn was about to take a step forward when he noticed Quinn and Brittany (one of Quinn's friends, that no one but Finn actually found funny) watching him. Would they think it was uncool, him defending Rachel? They already knew he was her friend, but would disagreeing with Puck just make it worse? Quinn whispered something to Brittany, who laughed and glanced at Rachel. They were talking about her.
"You can't play, Berry. We don't want you to play. Now leave us alone." Puck turned and stalked off towards Quinn, who held up her hand for him to high five. They all looked over at Finn, who was slowly walking towards Rachel.
"Wow. Really, Finn? You're still going to be friends with that loser?" Quinn looked annoyed, her hands curled into fists.
"She fits in my backpack," Brittany said. Finn didn't laugh.
"Rachel-"
"It's okay, Finn. Maybe we can go do something at my house? Daddy just bought me the next Harry Potter book, so we could start on that-"
"Rachel."
"Or do you not want to read today? Because I also got the next Mario Kart. Or I could teach you to play bridge! It's this new card game Daddy's boss taught me while I was at work with them waiting for Daddy to finish up. It's so much fun-"
"Rachel, maybe you should go." Finn whispered it, but she still heard. Her face was frozen in one of shock, and he could hear the scuffs of Puck's impatient feet behind them.
"Come on, let's start the game already!" Puck called.
"W-what?"
"We're playing kickball, and Puck and them don't really want you-I mean, they… we've already set up the teams and everything. It would be uneven."
It was a lame excuse and he knew it, but he really didn't want Puck breathing down his back because Rachel was here. He was sick of their jokes, and if it meant just asking Rachel to not play with him for one day then he would.
He was startled when she didn't argue. Rachel always argued, no matter what. She never took no for an answer.
"Fine."
And then he realized why. And he knew his video games were totally done for, because as Rachel turned to go, he saw a tear making its way down her cheek.
He had made Rachel Berry cry.
Finn's mom was surprised when she saw Puck was the one coming over their house every day after school instead of Rachel. Rachel's dads ignored him whenever they ran into each other outside of their respective houses. Finn himself felt like crap, but justified it whenever Puck asked him to hang out and Quinn smiled at him. Rachel would be okay. She would find other friends.
It was the beginning of ninth grade when he saw her again, outside of her house. She was walking pretty fast, her arms clutching a notebook to her chest. He noticed something was different about her. Her hair was still long and she still had the same black penny loafers on but something was definitely different. She walked past him, completely oblivious to his staring (and if she had noticed she just ignored him, like she had been doing for the past 4 years ever since that day he told her to leave) and his eyes widened when he figured out what it was.
No knee high socks.
Nope. There they were. Her bare legs barely concealed by that short, plaid purple skirt. Her toned legs flexed with each step and his eyes followed the soft skin all the way up to her-
He shook his head. No. No. He was totally done including Rachel Berry in his life. No more stories, no more hide and seek, no more tag and no more Nintendo's. And especially (thank god) no more tackling. Quinn was his girlfriend now. He had Quinn. He could kiss Quinn (something he hadn't dug up the courage to do so yet) and she would probably let him. Rachel would never let him kiss her-not that he thought about it. No way.
There was a blue slushie in his hand. There was a blue slushie in his hand and it was aimed at Rachel's face. There was a blue slushie in his hand; there was a smile on Puck's face, and a look of total devastation on Rachel's.
There was an empty slushie cup in his hand. Rachel's pink animal sweater was stained with blue. Rachel's eyes were stained with disappointment and embarrassment.
Puck gave him clap on the back, but Finn didn't feel anything.
It was the middle of freshman year when Rachel joined the Glee Club.
Was she just trying to make it worse for herself?
In the end it didn't really matter though, because Puck just kept throwing slushies in her face. And he helped. Sometimes.
The only difference, this time, was that the slushie was tagged with an insult.
"Loser."
It was the beginning of sophomore year when Finn joined the Glee Club.
And to be honest, he wasn't completely surprised that Rachel stormed out of the choir room the moment he walked in it. What did surprise him, though, was a couple weeks later she didn't slam the door in his face when he showed up on her front porch unannounced, in his pajamas, and his old Nintendo clutched in his hands.
"Hey."
"What do you want?" She was glaring at him, and he couldn't help but notice how pretty her eyes looked.
"Uh… I-"
"You interrupted the making of my weekly MySpace video. The least you could do is tell me what the hell you're doing here after 5 years."
Her minor cursing caused him to raise his eyebrows before quickly collecting himself. He cleared his throat and looked towards his feet, "Look, I just wanted to apologize. I brought-"
"You wanted to what? Apologize? So next time you egg me or throw a slushie in my face you're going to accompany it with a meaningless apology?" She scoffed, and he noticed her cheeks were starting to turn red. "That just won't cut it, Finn Hudson. Just because, for some crazy reason that I really don't have the patience to hear, you've managed to get yourself in the Glee Club doesn't mean I actually have to communicate with you. I don't even have to glance in your direction. So if you think by showing up here with that stupid video game contraption of yours will solve anything, you've been mistaken. Try going back in time and finding me a better best friend for the first 11 years of my life. That will really solve everything. Because that way it would have saved me the heartbreak and I wouldn't have had to waste my childhood with you!"
He didn't have a chance to respond before the door slammed shut.
There was a blue slushie in Dave Karofsky's hand. There was a blue slushie in Dave Karofsky's hand and it was aimed at Finn's face. There was a blue slushie in his hand; there was a smile on Dave's face, and a look of total surprise on Finn's.
There was an empty slushie cup in Dave Karofsky's hand. Finn's letterman jacket was stained with blue.
Across the hallway, he could hear Quinn's laughter.
The next time, Puck had joined in it, too.
"Taste the rainbow, Glee-otch!"
Purple, blue, and red stained his clothes. But this time a small hand tugged at his sleeve and dragged him into the girl's bathroom. He didn't get to see who it was until the slushie had stopped stinging his eyes.
"Rachel," He breathed.
She didn't say anything, just bent his head over the sink and washed the rest of the juice out of his hair before it could stick. He didn't think her banging his head against the faucet was an accident.
Once she was done, he placed his hand over hers before she could get away. "Thanks."
"That shirt's as good as gone," She said, "I would know."
She glanced at him once more before leaving.
Dave Karofsky slushied Rachel.
So he punched Karofsky in the face and ended up with in school suspension, a broken nose, and a thank you note from Rachel Berry. He suffered through the suspension and the broken nose. But the note, the note he hung on his wall.
Quinn broke up with him the third time he was slushied.
He smiled to himself as she walked away, because just a few seconds after, there was a tug on his shirt sleeve and he was being pulled into the girl's bathroom again. This time Rachel didn't hit his head on the faucet and he actually enjoyed the feeling of the cold water and her soft fingers running through his hair.
"Did you bring a change of clothes?" She asked once she was done.
"Yeah," Finn shrugged his shirt off and pulled another one out of his bag. "I figured it would start becoming a habit once it happened the second time."
He noticed Rachel wasn't looking at him, and he blushed when he looked down at himself and saw he was still standing there shirtless. Needless to say, he quickly pulled his shirt on and let out a breath.
"Rachel…" She looked at him, and his eyes caught hers and he couldn't breathe anymore because holy crap how hadn't he noticed how beautiful Rachel Berry was? How could he have done all that horrible shit to such a beautiful person? He remembered her the way she was back when they first met. Stick skinny, cheery, with her scruffy dresses that always made him itch when they brushed against his skin. And now, now with her short skirts and button down shirts and penny loafers. The shoes that never changed. The girl that did. He looked at her now and saw someone so strong but so broken, and he realized he had caused that. When he rejected her on the kickball field and told her to go home and chose Puck and Quinn (nasty Quinn who only ever wanted popularity from him, who never even let him properly make out with her) over such a beautiful girl… he broke her. He made Rachel Berry cry. He broke Rachel Berry.
God, he hated himself.
"Were you going to say some-"
"Rachel, you don't know how freakin' sorry I am I ever did this to you." He waved his hand over himself. "It's horrible and I… I can't explain to you how angry I am at myself. The slushies, the day at the kickball field-" She flinched at the reminder, but he just stepped closer to her and took her hand. "I'm so sorry I stopped being your friend. I thought I was missing out by not hanging with Puck a-and Quinn but… all those years when I wasn't with you was when I was really missing out. I-I mean… I just…"
"You're sorry," She whispered.
"Yeah."
"…Why?"
He was so taken aback by her question. Why? Why? Why was he sorry? His brain scrambled, searching through all those memories. Under the tree in her backyard, falling asleep together on the couch, eating pancakes for breakfast and missing her when he went home, her dads ordering him his own special dinner…
Special.
Special.
"Whenever I was around you when we were kids, I felt special. Whenever I'm around you now, I feel special. In Glee Club… when we sing together. Even when you refused to talk to me you told Mr. Schue that I was talented, that the club needed me. Do you know how special that made me feel? Being popular, I felt like crap. To be special in this school I had to bully people and make them feel like crap, too. When I'm around you, all I have to do is sing and when we were kids all I had to do was beat you at Mario Kart." He smiled slightly and squeezed her hand. "I know it took me a long time to realize my mistakes, but I'm doing that now and also… I'm asking you to forgive me."
Outside the bathroom, the bell rang. Rachel jumped slightly and looked down at their hands, then slowly pulled hers away and took a step back. He missed the feel of her skin against his.
"I really make you feel that way?" She spoke softly, quietly.
He whispered, "All the time."
"Why did it take you all this time to figure it out?" She took another step back and leaned against the bathroom wall.
"I didn't know what I had until it was gone."
She laughed a little, and it sounded disbelieving. "For five years?"
Finn's heart was racing. His palms were sweating. He licked his lips nervously before answering.
"Pretty much."
"Finn…"
"Just, please." He closed his eyes. "Just please give me another chance."
When he opened his eyes again, she was standing directly in front of him. She was so close he could smell her shampoo.
"Okay."
He sat under the oak tree (it was gigantic now; so big it actually provided shade for him when he sat under it) as he waited for Rachel to return with a book. This was his 4th day here. They had started on one of Rachel's favorite books but halfway throughout the second chapter Rachel had claimed she was getting bored with it and went inside to get another one. He watched her walk away, but tried not to stare at her legs as she did because it was totally obvious Leroy was watching them through the window in the kitchen. Every time he had been over that week, Rachel had lead him through the gate in her backyard so, thankfully, he wouldn't have to deal with her fathers and the awkwardness that would come with that conversation.
He and Rachel were still walking on thin ice, but as they spent more time together he could feel their friendship easing back in place.
It was too bad he was starting to get the feeling that he wanted more than just friendship with Rachel.
He sighed, leaning his head back against the tree trunk and closing his eyes. Although, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe she wanted it, too. After all, he had been walking her to her classes, even if it meant being five minutes late every time to his own. He always begged Mr. Schue to give them duets, risking getting a speech about how that was completely unfair from Mercedes and Kurt. In the past week, he'd also had to buy a couple of new shirts because his wardrobe wasn't that big in the first place and if he was going to step in front of Rachel every time Puck through a slushie in her direction he needed a few spare shirts to change into. The good thing was, he was getting used to the stinging of slushie in his eyes now.
There was light touch against his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Rachel settling down next to him again. He noticed this time she sat a lot closer, so her thigh was gently pressed against his and their arms brushed together every time she moved.
"Do you remember this?" She asked. He looked at the book in her hands, and was hit so hard with the memory of the day on the kickball field that it took him a few seconds to form words.
"That's… the second Harry Potter book?"
Rachel looked down at the book, her finger skimming over the cover. "I never read it. Ever since that day, I never read it."
"We could… I mean, do you want to-"
"Yes." Rachel smiled, her eyes shining. "That's why I brought it out."
There was a small moment of silence between them, before Finn spoke.
"Can I read to you this time? I never did when we were little and I know I'm not the best reader, but… I want to read to you."
Rachel smiled again, and Finn felt something in his stomach twist.
"Go ahead."
So he opened the book, and he did.
A month later Finn walked out of his house at same time Rachel did. Before he got a chance to say anything there was a whirl of bright brown hair in front of his vision and he was tackled to the ground.
"Was I dreaming last night or did we really win Sectionals?" She asked, gripping his shoulders tightly and grinning at him. Her hair hung around them like a curtain, and their faces were so close he could see every single detail on her skin. He tightened his grip on her and smiled.
"You definitely weren't dreaming."
She squealed, leaning down and kissing his cheek before laying her head on his chest.
"We were so amazing, Finn. You were so amazing."
"Thanks," Finn could feel the heat rising up his neck. "So were you. Really, really amazing."
She stood up suddenly, pulling him along with her. Her soft dress brushed against his jeans as he gripped her hand and didn't let go. He didn't think he ever planned to.
"Rachel. Rachel, wait."
She had started pulling him across the lawn to her house while he was lost in thought, talking up a storm about how they needed to have a proper celebration over this amazing win.
"What? Finn, come on!"
He stopped walking and pulled her back towards him, smiling a little and looking down at her. "Can you stop talking for just one second, please?"
And of course she pulls her hand away from his and crosses her arms over her chest. "Why?"
He sighed, glancing up at the sky before looking back down at her.
"Because I'm gonna kiss you and if you keep talking that's just going to ruin it."
"Excuse me-"
Then his lips were on hers and her arms were around his neck and he was pulling her closerclosercloser.
When they parted a few seconds later, her face was flushed and he was grinning.
"Well," Her eyes fluttered a bit and he could tell she was out of breath. "I can't say that wasn't a bit unexpected."
Finn just kept smiling. Rachel sighed.
"Finn Hudson, what am I ever going to do with you?" She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss.
And that was that. Rachel Berry would be tackling him for the rest of his life and he had no problem with it. No problem at all.
ta-da.