Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor do I own the characters, although I suppose that the 'verse' that they will be immersed in is mine.
Author's note: This is a heavily AU story. It means that character personalities are not the same as in the show, but at the core, there will still be some elements of Finn and some elements of Rachel in there, but please do not come to me saying that this is not how they act on the show. That's why it's AU. Please R&R. The other chapters will be longer, don't worry, this is just kind of a set up.
The night is, in a word, perfect. They are lying there together on the balcony of their apartment. The lounge chair they've set up rests at the most awkward angle, but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters except for the way they are there, curled up under a blanket even though it's the month of July and it feels like a sauna out. They're watching the New York traffic, all the hustle and bustle, and they are probably the most silent people in all of New York at that moment. Too silent for New York, perhaps. The beeping of taxi cabs and the shouts of their angered drivers seem so far away from thirty floors up, yet so close. Where they are, it's more of a dull whimper, but the sounds are placating, soothing, even.
They've really become New Yorkers, minus the accents. Those are still entirely from Lima, but some things never change. And their vegetables are still fried, because eating them raw goes against the very core of their being. Or perhaps his being, but it's a custom she's learned to deal with, since what's important to him is important to her. He made her feel special, loved, frying their carrots and string beans is the least that she can do for him. That is, when she's home to make dinner anyways. Shows have started at night now, so she's away from home until 11pm five nights a week. She worries that that's too much, but he insists that it's fine. This is the life she deserves, so long as they stay like this when she comes home, everything will be fine.
He strokes her stomach softly with his thumb, brushing it over her skin under her top. She stirs a little and she wonders if the child can feel that yet, if it realizes that he's brushing his thumb back and forth because he loves her. They've already decided on a name, Laura, after her first agent, the one who landed her her first job that has sent her on the crazy path to broadway stardom. She's like family now. She comes over unannounced, at all the worst moments possible, but neither of them mind. When they're together, nothing ever really seems to matter.
He pushes her hair to the side with his free hand and trails kisses along her neck and shoulder. They're not a suggestion, though he'd never object, they simply are what they are – kisses. She knows that and she snuggles against him more. They're both too warm to be cuddled this close, but they need to be near each other. It's a need that never goes away. Their life has been riddled with problems, with mistakes, but New York was a chance to start over, to fix the all those errors. Well, most of them. Some mistakes are with you for life, but those are the ones you learn from, and they were the ones that led them to be where they were. Nothing would have happened the way that it did if it wasn't for those mistakes. "Did you think we would end up here?" he asks, resting his chin on her shoulder, his voice barely above a whisper. It sounds odd against the backdrop of sounds, so much louder and so much more powerful.
She takes a moment before answering, placing her hand over his as she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "Considering that you were the school loser and I was the stunning young ingenue of Mckinley High that everyone was rooting for, no, I didn't. But i'm glad this is the way it turned out."
That's all he really needed to hear.