Hi! I'm finchelislovefinchelislife, your author for this story. This is my first fanfiction, and it's been a while since I've written so I'm a little rusty... But I digress... I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Corner of Your Heart
Chapter One
Rachel was cleaning dirty dinner dishes in the kitchen sink, with Santana alongside her. It was a pretty typical evening in the small, two bedroom New York apartment.
Rachel and Santana cleaning? Check.
Noah sitting in the living room, watching some sports game that she didn't understand at all? What else was new?
Brittany and two year old Olivia playing dolls in the little girl's room? Of course.
Olivia's father living who-knows-where, doing who-know-what? Unfortunately so- for over two years, now.
She still thought of him from time to time. Actually, the small girl had found herself thinking about him a lot more than usual, these days. How could she forget the man that she had once considered to be her soul mate? His image was still fresh in her mind (and not only because she had never deleted all of those pictures from her phone). His chocolate brown hair and matching eyes.
"Yes!" her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a scream of victory coming from the living room.
"Noah!" she called back, "for all that is good and Jewish, stop screaming! It's not like you're actually playing in the game!"
"Seriously, Puckerman!" Santana agreed, "Suenas como un animal borracho!"
The two girls were brushed off by an eye roll and a light chuckle. They turned their attention back to the dishes, chatting amongst themselves.
"So," the Latina gave her friend a half smile, "How was work, today?"
"Alright I guess," Rachel shrugged, "I mean, I'm happy that summer's coming, so I can cut back on my hours at the diner; I really don't think that I've been spending enough time with Olivia, lately."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Santana's heart broke for the brown eyed girl, "you work so hard; Olivia knows that. And besides," she set the white plate that she had been drying down on the counter, "she's staying at your mom's when you're gone; it's not like you're dumping her at a daycare center, every day."
"That's true," she nodded.
"And it's not like you just walked out on her… like he-who-shall-not-be-named."
"Seriously?" Rachel crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, an amused expression playing on her face. " 'he-who-shall-not-be-named'? Why must you always talk about Olivia's father as if he was that villain from those stupid Harry Potter movies?"
"You can't seriously be defending this guy! He walked out on you. I swear to god, if I ever see trouty again, Imma go all Lima Heights on him!"
"Santana-"
"All I need to see are those stupid knuckles dragging on the ground and then Imma smack the constipated look off of his face."
"Okay, Santana, I get it; you don't like him. Hearing you talk about him doesn't make it easier for any of us." Rachel let out a long, shaky breath.
The darker girl was about to apologize, when they heard a knock at the door. Rachel put down the blue sponge, and walked to the door, thinking that it was probably just her mother wanting to say hello to Olivia, or maybe Kurt, trying to push her into letting him give her a makeover.
Who did appear in the doorway, however, left her in complete shock. Never in a million years, did she ever think that she'd ever see this man again
"Finn?" she breathed, her eyes almost bulging out of her face.
"Rachel," the brown haired boy smiled at the sight of Rachel. She lookezd almost exactly the same since the last time he saw her. Her skin was still a perfect creamy white complexion. Her shiny, chocolate brown hair still fell around her shoulders in beautiful waves. But there was something different in her eyes; those beautiful, big brown eyes that could always make him melt back when they were together. They didn't hold the same playfulness, or hopefulness that they used to. These eyes looked tired and overworked. Hell, the small girl looked like she hadn't gotten a good night sleep in quite some time.
"W-what are you doing here?" Rachel asked, her voice beginning to crack.
"I-I…" he paused for a moment, "…I'm so sorry, Rachel. I shouldn't have done what I did."
"Whatever," she crossed her arms, "I honestly don't see how you can just stand in front of me, right now, and be okay with yourself. You left me, Finn!"
"It's not like I had a choice!" he tried to step into the apartment, but Rachel stopped him, "Burt's shop went under! My family was moving to Indianaw! What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know," the brown eyed girl threw her arms in the air in frustration, "you probably could have stayed with Noah, or Artie."
"No; I would feel like I was just mooching off of them. Look," he shook his head, "I didn't come here to fight with you."
"Then why did you come here?"
"I…" he sighed, "I heard that you kept the baby…"
"And…?"
"… and… I want to make things right between the three of us… you know… you, and me… and little Finn Jr.… I mean, I don't know what you decided to name him, but… that's what I've been referring to him as, for the past two years."
Rachel sighed, "She."
"What?"
"The baby… it's not a he… it's a she."
"Oh," he smiled brightly, "well… can I meet her?"
"No,"
"Why not."
"Because," Rachel shook her head, "You left us, Finns. You made your choice. You don't want to be a part of her life? That's fine. But don't you dare try to come in here, and act like the big hero daddy, because you're not. You're just a coward… just… just… just a scared little boy, who's too afraid to face the consequences of what we both did."
"Rachel," Finn looked down at her with pleading eyes, "I'm begging you; just let me meet her. Please. I mean, this is ridiculous! I don't even know my own daughter's first name! It's-"
"Olivia."
"Huh?"
"Her name is Olivia," the tears began to fall from her eyes. Olivia Eloise Hud- I mean Berry. Olivia Eloise Berry."
The brown eyed boy smiled, "Olivia. I like it; it's pretty."
"Wow," Rachel gave him a sarcastic look, "this is the first time that you've ever shown any interest in her. I'm surprised."
"Rachel, you can call me a coward, a jackass… I don't care!" he took a step closer to her, "But don't you dare say that I don't care about the two of you! Do you think that I wanted to leave you? You honestly don't believe that I've spent every single day thinking about the both of you, wondering if you were okay, for the past two and a half years?"
"You're lying." She looked up at him, her eyes glassy with tears, "you don't give a shit about us,"
"Of course I do," he took her hand in his, "I love you… and our baby," he peered into the living room, "where is she?"
"She's in her room with Brittany, playing dolls… but it shouldn't matter to you… it's not like you're ever going to meet her!"
"But Rachel," he looked behind Rachel, and down the hallway that led, to where he guessed, was Olivia's bedroom, "that's my kid in there!"
Just then, the small girl heard someone walk up behind her, "What the hell is he doing here?" Santana glared at him.
"H-He wants to see Olivia…" Rachel stuttered.
"Nope," she shook her head, "there's no freaking way," she crossed her arms, muttering, "hijo de puta."
"Look Rachel," Finn continued, trying as hard as he could to ignore the death stares that Santana was giving to him. After almost three years, the Latina still had the power to scare the Star Wars boxers off of him, "I'm not going to hurt you, again… I didn't even mean to hurt you in the first place. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking that her dad doesn't care about her… or her mother."
"No, Finn," she sighed, "for the last time, no."
"What do I need to do to show you that I'm serious about all of this?"
"I…" Rachel shook her head, "I don't know…"
"Nothing!" Santana exclaimed, "You don't get to meet her! You just left her, so you have to miss out!" she began to shut the door.
"Wait!"Finn stopped her, "just… let me take you out to dinner!"
"What?" she shook her head in confusion.
"Go out to dinner with me… we can talk about… whatever you want to talk about… and if you still hate me, then I'll leave you alone."
"And you'll stop asking me to meet Olivia?"
"…yeah…" he sighed.
"Then… fine," Rachel sighed, accepting defeat, "I'll go with you."
"Great…" Finn beamed, forcing himself to hide the excitement coursing through his veins from the thought of going on a date with Rachel Berry. He remembered how nervous he had been when he first asked her out during their sophomore year.
He first met her during their freshmen year. During his first few weeks at McKinley he had become pretty good friends with Noah Puckerman, or 'Puck' as most people called him. Noah had actually turned out to live right next door to Rachel, and had decided to introduce them (because all of his friends had to be cool with his Jewish-American princess- it was a known fact).
So the Jewish boy led Finn through Rachel's house and to her room. "Rachel?" he gave her bedroom door a quick knock before quickly opening it. The force must have really been against him, that day (or with him, whichever way you looked at it) because at that exact moment, the small girl had opened up her bathrobe and dropped it on the floor, leaving her completely nude.
Both of the boys' eyes grew wide, "Noah!" Rachel screamed in horror.
"Wow," Noah looked up and down her body, smirking for a quick second, before looking at the mortified expression on the girl's face, "Sorry!" he shook her head in realization, and closed the door.
Later that day (after Rachel had put some clothes on) the small girl had finally gained enough courage to emerge downstairs from her bedroom. She walked into the living room, to see that the two boys were still there. She shot each of them a shy smile before sitting in between them.
"Hey," Finn smiled at her.
"Hey,"
"So…" he looked around the room, trying to think of something to say. What does one say when they're put in such an awkward position? "You like movies?" he asked when he saw the large stack of DVDs that was set up next to the flat screen television. Of course she likes movies! He kicked himself, internally; everybody of the human fricken race likes movies!
"Yeah," she nodded, "Mostly musicals, and genres of that nature."
"Cool," he nodded, shooting her a small smile.
"Seriously?" Noah groaned, "Either make out, already, or stop flirting!" he got up off the couch.
"Where are you going?" the blonde boy asked.
"Back to my place; I'm getting pretty tired of the two of you making goo goo eyes at each other, and not doing anything about it!" and with that, he walked out the door, leaving Finn and Rachel alone.
"I apologize for Noah's behavior. He's just a bit… crude."
"I can see that," he chuckled, "But seriously, don't sweat it. We all have that friend, right?"
"Right," she giggled, deciding not to tell him that Santana and Brittany were pretty much like that, too.
Finn was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the sound of the door shutting, "Olivia," he kept on murmuring over and over as he began to walk to the elevator. She was her girl, and her name was Olivia: that was all he knew about his two year old child; but he was determined to know more.
.X.x.X.x.X.
Rachel sighed as she and Finn walked out of her apartment building, and down the streets of New York City. She still couldn't believe that the place she had always thought of with so much hope and promise, was now just a crowded lump of a place that was far too noisy at night, in her eyes.
"I've really missed you, Rachel," Finn looked down at her as they continued to walk down the street.
And I missed you, too! More than you will ever know! Please just come back to me! "I… I guess I've missed you, too." She was still mad at him. How she not? He was all she had left, and he just left her there. But still… she didn't reject his hand, when she felt it begin to slip into hers.
Once they made it too the restaurant, and the hostess led them to a booth, Finn reclaimed Rachel's hand from over the table, kissing her knuckles, gently.
"Rachel," he smiled at her, "you have no idea how much I love you… I… I don't think- no, I know- that I never stopped loving you."
"Finn,"she shook her head, "I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still have some feelings for you… but what you did was selfish, and irresponsible. And… and I just don't think that I can forgive you for it."
"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" he sighed, "Look; let's not ruin this night by fighting," he paused for a minute, trying to think of something, anything, to say, to change the subject, "so.. what did your dads do when they found out?"
"They kicked me out."
"Really?" his emerald green eyes grew wide, "where did you go?"
"Well," she sighed, "Santana's mom took me in over the summer. And then my mother moved back to Lima."
"Wait," he raised an eyebrow, "I thought you told me that you didn't have a mom."
"Everybody has a mother, Finn. So anyway, she and I sort of formed a bond, I guess. I mean, there were still some awkward moments, here and there, but at least I had someone that I could talk to; and she's great with Olivia. She babysits her while I'm at work… well, except during the summer; during that time, the babysitting position is handed to Santana."
"You know… you could just let me babysit her."
She shook her head, "Finn, you know damn well why I can't; it wouldn't be right."
"It wouldn't be right? It isn't right that a father wants to meet his daughter? How can you say that, Rachel?"
"Finn…" she whispered, "she's been… asking about you."
"What do you mean?" he shook his head in confusion.
"Well, just yesterday, she asked me why her dolls have a daddy, and she doesn't?" the petite brunette rested her forehead on her hand, forcing herself not to cry.
"And..." he swallowed, "and what did you tell her?"
"I told her that sometimes things just work out like that, and that daddy or not, I still love her more than anything."
Finn smiled, "A-At least… can you at least show me… a-a picture of her?"
Rachel hesitantly took her phone out of her purse, and turned it on. She flipped through the pictures (trying her best not to smile when she passed all of the ones of him and her together), before finding a picture of just her daughter, and showing it to Finn.
Finn took the phone in his hand, gazing at the image in front of him, tears welling up in his eyes. The little girl was the spitting image of Rachel, with her tiny body, and chocolate waves. "She looks just like you. What's she like?"
"Well... she loves to sing," she shook her head, letting out a small laugh, "We're almost never able to take her out to a restaurant; as it turns out, people don't really like to listen to a two hour rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while they're eating… and she loves animals, which is probably because she spends so much time with Brittany."
"Yeah," he chuckled, "Well… don't let her spend too much time with Brittany, or she might have to wear a helmet for the rest of her life."
"That's mean… Olivia's pretty hysterical, though; always making me laugh… just like you did."
"Rachel," he looked back up at her, his eyes pleading, "Let me meet her. Please."
"I-I'm still not sure," she shook her head, "but to be honest, I haven't really been sure about anything since we moved here."
"But-"
"Finn, for the last time, I said I don't know! This is not about you or me; it's about Olivia! And you just showing up out of nowhere might not be the best thing for her."
"Just give me a chance, Rachel! I won't let you down, I promise!"
"You promise?" she shook her head, "Just like you promised that you'd always be here for me?"
"That's different."
"How?" Rachel thought for a moment, "Alright, let's say that I do let you meet her. What happens if she becomes attached to you, and then you leave, again?"
"Rachel, I swear on my life, that I'm not going to leave you, again. Like I said before, I love you."
And I love you, too! Why did you have to leave me, Finn? Why? "I know; you've already told me."
When they had finished eating, and Finn had paid the check (while ignoring Rachel's protests) the pair began to walk back to Rachel's apartment, talking the entire time.
"Goodnight, Finn," Rachel patted his shoulder once they made it to the front doors of the large building.
"What? No goodnight kiss? That's not the Rachel I know."
"Not tonight Finn," she smirked.
"So I wore my lucky Star Wars boxers for nothing?"
The short girl let out a small laugh, "you still have those?"
"Of course I do," he chuckled, "you seriously thought that I would throw them out?"
"Well…" she thought for a moment, "yes… eventually."
"Rachel," he shook his head, "I wore those on the day that I asked you out; I was wearing them right before you saw little Finn for the first time… like I told you in high school, these things are freaking magical!" he took a step closer to her.
Before the brown eyed girl knew what she was doing, she felt her lips press against his. And there it was, that wonderful, incredible feeling of his lips against her own, that she had been missing for so long.
She moved her body closer to his wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. Finn traced her bottom lip with his tongue and she opened her mouth, granting him entrance.
After a few more seconds of lip locking, she pulled away, completely out of breath, "So…"
"…Yeah…"
"Do you think I can meet her now?"
"Not yet, frankenteen," she smirked, "but you're getting there." The petite brunet gave him one final smile before walking into the building.