DISCLAIMER: Bla bla bla, I don't own Glee, Ryan Murphy and FOX do. It'd be cool if I did though. ;)
Here it is, guys and gals! The epilogue!
I actually wrote this some where around the time that I was writing chapter 7, because I had so many ideas, and I needed to see them to fruition before I forgot them.
It's definitely not tearful, but I can't say that I'm not right now. ;)
So, without further ado, the ACTUAL end:
EPILOGUE
Rachel Berry opens the door to the Franchia Cafe. The doorbell chimes. She's late for her 9:30 shift, her hair is put up into a wild, obviously quickly done bun, she is wearing a sweater that she just realized she wore last week, and her apron is in her hands, begging to be put on.
Rachel's alarm clock wasn't working. Damn thing. She'd have to dip into her savings to buy a new one. She wouldn't admit it to her fathers, but she was living paycheck to paycheck. Some months she barely made rent. Her life didn't suck, per se, but it was definitely hectic. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday she went to work waitressing tables at a local vegan bistro. She loved the food, which was why she applied there in the first place, but her working hours were hell; it was a 24-hour cafe. Today she would be working until 7. It seemed as if Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 had become the theme song of her life.
On the days that she didn't have to work, she auditions for parts in miscellaneous off-Broadway shows. She had managed to make it to New York, yes, but she wasn't a star. Some days she wondered if she would ever become one. If someone gave her the chance to leave her dead end job, abandon her dingy apartment in Queens, move to the city, and land a once-in-a-lifetime part on Broadway, she would do it in a heartbeat. Even if she had to sell her soul to the devil to do it.
Almost immediately after graduating from McKinley she left for Juilliard. Leaving Ohio was hard for her. She had to leave all of her family and friends and her past. And when she stepped over the threshold to her first apartment, she put all of that behind her. Because even though she was scared shitless, she needed to focus on her future, and not dwell on yesterday. Or him.
School was hard, but she managed through it, somehow. Most nights she spent crying into her pillow. But doesn't every girl do that when she leaves home?
Rachel finished putting on her apron reluctantly, and informed her manager that she was there. She was never, ever late for work, so he didn't chide her for one day.
"Rachel! Order up for table 2!" She hurried over to the counter, gathered the plates in her hands, and made her way to table 2. It was an old couple, both maybe around 60 years old. She has to pause for a second. Five years of pent-up emotions came flooding over her, and it took everything she had not to burst into tears. She set their food down on the table, composed herself, and walked to table 5 to take their order.
Her customer's face was obscured by the lime green menu, so much that it seemed as if they didn't want her to see them. But she was used to meeting crazy people; she did live in New York, after all.
"Welcome to the Franchia cafe. May I take your order?" she said in her usual polite, totally fake waitressing voice. After a couple seconds the person lowered the menu slowly, until she was eventually making full eye contact with them.
It was Finn Hudson.
Her mind went blank, and her body went numb. She thought that she might go into shock and start flailing on the floor, but she kept her composure.
What was he doing her? What the hell was he doing here? In New York, so far from Ohio? Had her past finally caught up with her?
Rachel hasn't seen the boy in five years. Not since he left on a full ride football scholarship to the University of Texas. Not since the life she planned for them had fallen apart, and her heart was broken.
She can see in his face that he's grown up. There's bags under his eyes, and the worn out shirt that he's wearing has UT written on it in bright orange. He's also gotten more muscular. He is the all-American boy.
She looks back up to his eyes, and she notices he's staring at her. There's a grin on his face that can't be explained. She hadn't seen it in so long, and honestly, she missed it.
"Ah yes. I think I'll take the guacamole lentil burger, please."
GLEE
You're havin' my baby
What a lovely way of sayin' what you're thinkin' of me
He's singing to her. He's singing to Rachel Barbara Berry-Hudson and she's crying and she's kissing him so much that he can barely continue the song and he's kissing her back because the lyrics he was singing were true: they were having a baby. His beautiful, amazing, talented wife was having his baby. He was so happy because this time the baby was actually his, and he truly loved the woman that was having it. He was ready to support it and his wife and live out the rest of his days with a complete family.
He was the happiest man alive.
After Finn finished the song and his wife was in his arms and they were together and he promises her that he would never name their child Drizzle. She laughs and kisses him and they tell each other that they love each other through the kiss.
FINN
I hope you guys liked it. :)
And I'm sure you notice the extra 'n' on the end of FIN. I did that on purpose. :)
I can't believe that Rachel and Finn's summer is over. It was a long, angsty, sad, romantic ride. :)
Buttt I am so sad that it's over, that I might just start a whole story that picks up where the epilogue finished. (After the cafe scene but before they have a baby.) If and only if I get a bunch of reviews asking for a future fic, then I will write it.
But only if!
And who knows, maybe after season 2 is done airing, I'll write a whole nother story about the next summer! :D
Thank you to those who were reading 'Journey After Regionals' from the beginning. Writing this story kept me sane. :)
Bla bla bla,
cappievonbuettner.