A/N: Hello everyone! First off, this is not a new story. I had it posted a while ago but I deleted it after Cory's death and hadn't reposted it since then. At the time it just seemed too morbid to write about a ghost Finn when Finn was actually dead, but now I kind of think it's almost...comforting? It's definitely AU but this is a happy story and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it. I've made some edits and changes from my first time posting it but I hope you will like it! Thank you x
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How is it that everyday I seem to get farther away from my dreams? I used to live in Pennsylvania, which wasn't too bad and it was decently close to New York- where I am determined to be living in two years. Ever since I watched my first Broadway show there when I was a little girl, I knew I was destined to make New York my home. But now here I am. In little old Lima, Ohio.Lima,Ohio. Where is that even on the map anyway? I haven't spoken to my daddy in weeks ever since he told me he got a job in Lima and that we were moving here. Don't they care about my future career? Being in Lima, Ohio will not help me get to Broadway; do they not understand? I huff madly as I carry my luggage out of the car trunk and drag it in to our new home. I have to admit that the new house is nice. It's gorgeous really- with Victorian style turrets and a widow's walk; it was the kind of house my fathers have always wished for.
"Rachel, darling," Papa says rushing to the doorway and grabbing the heavy luggage out of my hand. "What do you think? Beautiful, right? Did you know that this house was an old hotel built in 1851? Amazing right? They remodeled it a bit and made it very nice and comfortable to live in now so there's no need to worry about anything-" he rambles on but I feel my heart drop in my chest. I start sweating and panicking and my knees weaken because I really really hate old buildings. I should probably explain why. You see, I'm special. And not just because of my spectacular voice but because I have what some people would call a sixth sense. Long story short, I can see ghosts. Now do you understand why I hate old buildings? Lots of older buildings have dead people hanging around and waiting for people like me to save them, but an old hotel built in 1851? That's basically a guarantee that a creepy old, dead man is waiting in there for me to fulfill his last wish or whatever in order to set him free to wherever the hell you go after you die. And I really was not in the mood to help out a ghost today.
"So are you excited sweetie?" Papa asks.
"For what?" I ask, but immediately regretting doing so because Papa's face falls and he frowns.
"Have you been listening to me?" he asks, sounding more sad than frustrated. "Are you excited to see your new room?"
"Oh yes, yes. Of-course papa." I reply faking a smile. "very excited." He leads me up the spiraling stair case and opens the door at the very end of the hallway. My room. I gasp as I enter the room. The walls are covered in pale, pastel flowers and gold rimmed mirrors, a vintage glass lamp hangs above my head, and dark wooden boards cover the floor. It was the loveliest room I've ever seen.
"So?" Papa asks excitedly. "Do you love it?" I turn around to tell him how much I adore it but before I can, I catch a quick glimpse of a very tall figure standing next to the large window. My smile fades away in to a frown as I stare at the tall figure who doesn't even seem to acknowledge my existence. I glance back at Papa, surprised to see him looking as though on the verge of tears.
"Oh, do you hate it?" he asks sadly. "We thought you'd love it and it might make up for all the trouble we've been causing you. We're really sorry, sweetie.." he mumbles.
"Oh, papa! No, I really love it! It's perfect! It's everything I've ever wished for. Please, believe me. I love it, I promise." I say reassuringly. He seems to be satisfied with my reply and smiles.
"You really should talk to daddy, Rach. He loves you and really misses singing with you every Friday," he says patting my shoulder.
"I know, Papa and I will. Just give me a couple of minutes to enjoy my new and amazing room okay?" I ask, emphasizing on the word amazing. He nods and places a light kiss on my cheek before walking out. The moment the door shuts close, I whip around to face the mysterious figure still standing there and gazing out the window.
"Who are you?" I ask. He doesn't respond or even look back. Who does he think he is? I sigh in annoyance. "Excuse me?" I ask stomping towards him. "I'm talking to you!" He quickly glances down at me in surprise. I place my hand on my hips and stand up tall. Ugh, could he please wipe that dopey expression off his face?
"You...you can see me?" he says in almost a whisper. I roll my eyes.
"Of-course I can see you. Am I not talking to you? So tell me, what's your name?" I say.
"Um, Finn Hudson," he says quickly. I take a quick look at him and my gosh, is he tall! I can't believe I didn't notice him the moment I walked in. I was probably too distracted by the Funny Girl poster hanging above the bed. But I also don't understand how I didn't see him immediately because he's really...attractive. Like super good looking actually. His dark, short hair perfectly fixed in to a nice, crisp end and his gorgeous hazel eyes staring down at me with such surprise. Did I mention that he has great bone structure? "How...how can you see...I.." he trails off nervously, too puzzled to finish a proper sentence.
"I'm what people call a Mediator," I answer for him. "I can see dead people, like you. And I help people like you to move on to your after life or something. I don't know yet because I'm not dead," I say with a laugh. He doesn't laugh though and gives me a very strange look. I sigh. "My name is Rachel Berry. I'm sixteen and I'll be starting my junior year in high school this year. I'm an amazing singer and I'm hoping to be on Broadway someday. It's nice to meet you," I say sticking my hand out for him to shake. He doesn't take it and instead just stares at me, his expression rather unreadable. It seemed to be a very confusing mix of emotions. "Please just shake my hand," I beg. He licks his lips (which was kind of hot?) and sticks out his shaking hand, slowly reaching out for my own. He gasps as soon as we touch, which was expected considering he probably hasn't touched anyone in many many years. I shake it firmly and let go. He stares dumbly at his hands even after I let it go and keeps opening his mouth as if to say something, only to close it a moment later.
"Now Finn Hudson, I understand that this is a lot for you to take in in such a short amount of time but I really need to go talk to my daddy and practice singing Don't Rain on My Parade for the 2375th time so if you could please just tell me the reason you're still stuck hanging around on Earth and let me help you that would be greatly appreciated," I say with my signature bright smile. Now I know that his problem might not be something I can fix in less than a minute but sometimes they really are that simple. One old man just wanted a hug before he died and once I was able to give him that, he faded away in to thin air and I never saw him again. Of course it's not always like that. One lady wanted me to find her husband who lived somewhere all the way in Florida and tell him how much she loved him. That crazy lady never stopped nagging me about it until I had to convince my dads that I really needed to go to Disneyland that spring break and preform in Florida when really my whole plan revolved around telling this man I've never even met before that his wife still loved him even before she died. Finally after that, the lady never bothered me again.
"I...I don't really understand," Finn responds. Well, that certainly isn't a response I was expecting.
"I mean like what do you want me to do for you? What's holding you back?" I ask again.
"That's the thing," he says shaking his head. "I don't know. I don't know what's holding me back, I don't know what I'm doing here."
"Oh...Um," I say, not quite sure how to reply. "Well, I hate to do this but then I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I live here now and I can't have a dead guy hanging out in my bedroom. So I'm genuinely sorry but you'll have to move out, alright? I'm going to leave now but when I come back I expect you to be gone." And with that, I walked out the doors.
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That's it for chapter one but I've already gotten the next several chapters written so they'll hopefully be coming in pretty quickly! I will be posting the second chapter once I've gotten a certain amount of reviews that will let me know people are interested in the continuation of this story. So please review! It's the only way I can tell people are interested and it is also a huge motivation for me to keep writing :) I'm sorry I haven't updated "Let's Just Pretend" in a suuper long time, hopefully I will though.. Thank you lovelies!