AN: Why, hello there! This is my new Finchel fic, entitled In Five Years Time. I have a lot of free time, so 2 fics at a time shouldn't be too hard to handle (I hope)! This is an idea I've had for almost a year but have only now realized how it could work. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 1!

She was halfway through the reprise of 'People Will Say' in her final performance as Laurey in 'Oklahoma' when she saw him. Rachel tried to concentrate on the lyrics in order to distract herself from his unforeseen appearance.
"Starlight looks swell on us..." she sang confidently, but his crooked smile was so eye-catching that she'd almost forgotten where she was. Finn. After all these years. For the remainder of the show, she gave her best performance yet, as if avoiding his eyes motivated her in some way.

A lot had changed in five years. Rachel was 23 now, and finishing her second Broadway role. She had played Fanny in Funny Girl for a year and a half, because she was simply exceptional. Then, when she was 21, she auditioned for Oklahoma, and was cast as the understudy to Laurey. Six months after getting the role, she finally got to play her dream role permanently. Her professional life had changed for the better, as well as her social life. Kurt, who was now married to Blaine, and herself were still close friends, and he'd often visit her at the theatre. Santana, who was in a serious relationship with Brittany, would call her up regularly for catch-ups. Rachel had even reunited with Jesse St James, although now, he wasn't interested in her romantically. He'd been dating a guy called Jacob for almost a year now, after coming out when he was twenty-one.

The only aspect of Rachel's life that hadn't improved was her dating and love life. She'd been on a few dates with guys occasionally, but nothing had become of them. She'd only had one relationship, if you could classify it as such, since Brody, which was with a guy named Marcus, which lasted six months before he got bored. She hadn't been in love since, well, Finn.
As Rachel took her final bow on the stage as Laurey, she saw him stand up and give her a standing ovation, his smile enormous, clapping eagerly. Walking off the stage, she felt a sudden relief; he could no longer see her, and vice-versa. She was safe. After hugging her castmates, each of them wishing her luck in her next endeavour, she reached her dressing room.

"Surprise!" Rachel almost fell over from the shock. Standing there in her dressing room were her closest friends. Kurt and Blaine presented her with a bouquet of beautiful flowers, whilst Santana and Brittany handed her a bottle of champagne. Jesse was the first to embrace her in a tight, as the others soon joined in.
"We're so proud of you, Rachel!" exclaimed Jesse.
"Thank you so much, but you guys are kinda squishing me!" chuckled Rachel.
"Rachel, that was phenomenal," said Blaine. "That was your best performance ever!"
"Even better than when I was your Maria?" laughed Rachel.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far, you did have a great Tony..." teased Blaine.

They opened the champagne with a pop, and Santana began filling up glasses for everyone. Rachel, however, made her way over to Kurt.
"Did you invite him?" she said quietly.
"Who?" Kurt was confused.
"Don't pretend you didn't see him." Rachel sighed. "Finn."
"I did see him outside, but I honestly didn't know he was coming. Are you okay, Rachel?" Kurt's brow furrowed. She nodded, before grabbing her glass of champagne. A few moments later, there was a knock on her dressing room door. She figured it was probably one of her castmates.

"Hi..." he said, half nervous, half smiling.
"Finn." Rachel was almost paralysed with fear and nerves. "Uh, what are you doing here?" she breathed in deeply.
"Well, I was in town, and Kurt mentioned he was going to see you, so I figured I'd come and check out your show... You were amazing." he couldn't look her in the eyes. Everyone else was pretending not to notice Finn's awkward arrival, dancing to the music and talking amongst themselves. "So, how've you been?" he asked, finally looking up into her eyes.

"Uh, in the last five years? Fine, I guess. What about you, what are you up to?" Both could tell how awkward the other felt.
"Well, I'm teaching now, actually." Finn smiled. Rachel's eyes lit up.
"Wow, that's amazing, I'm so happy for you!"

There was a lull in the conversation where they just stared and smiled at each other. The chemistry was inevitable between them, even after all these years. Finn finally plucked up the courage to ask Rachel the one thing he needed to ask.
"So, are you... seeing anyone?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I, uh..."

Suddenly, Rachel had an idea. She couldn't make Finn think she'd been waiting for him all these years; she had to play hard to get, and seem unavailable to him. That was a good plan, right? Also, Finn wasn't aware of Jesse's sexuality, which made this plan even easier. "Actually, I have a boyfriend." she gestured over to Jesse, who was laughing at something Blaine had just said.
"J-Jesse St. James?" Finn was stunned. His hope was for them to go for a drink and maybe return to how things were five years ago. It was safe to say his hopes were dashed.
"Yeah, we've been together for about a year now, I'm really happy." At that moment, Jesse made his way over.

"Did I hear my name?" he said. Rachel suddenly transformed into lovey-dovey girlfriend mode.
"Yeah, babe, I was just telling Finn about how happy we are together!" Rachel shot Jesse a subtle look, and he squeezed her hand for assurance. He understood, and slung an arm around her shoulder.
"Finn, good to see you, it's been so long! Why don't you come in, we have champagne if you'd like?" Jesse could sense that Finn was uncomfortable.

"Nah, dude, that's okay, I wouldn't want to intrude, I have to get going anyway. Good to see you, Rachel, but I, uh-" he stopped speaking mid-sentence before leaving.
"Finn, wait!" called Rachel, walking after him. She slipped a piece of paper in his hand. "This is my new number. If you ever want to meet up for coffee or something, give me a call."

And with that, she walked back to her dressing room. Everyone looked in her direction, as if trying to assess what had just happened. Rachel closed the door slowly.
"Jesse, I'll explain everything, I promise. Right now, I just think I need to be alone." her voice began to crack.
"Rachel, are you-" Santana began.
"I'll be fine. I'll see you all tomorrow, okay, I just need to go home and sleep."

Soon, it was just Rachel, all alone in her dressing room. She sat against the wall, one memory from the past replaying in her mind. The words pulsed inside her head until she could no longer contain the emotion. Tears began to flow down her cheeks as she recalled the occurrence from her sophomore year.

"I'm not just some guy you met at the music store that you can just blow off. I don't give up that easy."

The situation was painfully similar. She was with someone else, or at least Finn thought. Would he give up this time? Had he given her enough chances? She cried more as she realized exactly what this meant. Rachel had messed up her last chance of happiness with Finn by letting her crazy side take over. Rachel had sabotaged herself. This time, she was afraid they couldn't make things better. She was sure this was the end for them.

AN: More to come, so if you're excited for that, review, favorite, follow etc.