Hey guys. As I'm sure you've probably noticed, Chapter One has been drastically changed. I knew that it was going in the wrong direction when I was halfway through with Chapter Two, so I decided to switch it up. I think this version is a lot better. :)

Have fun. :)

Chapter One

Rachel Berry opens the door to the Franchia Cafe. The doorbell chimes. She's late for her 10:30 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.

He definitely wasn't one of her normal clientele. 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."

Should she even talk to him? Should she run away in a grand fashion and forget he ever came back around? No. She's over him. Lima, Ohio won't control her life any longer. She stutters to answer him. "A- anything else?"

"Yeah! Maybe I'll try the-" he scans over the menu again. "the spinach banana smoothie!" She can't help but notice he's being sarcastic. Same old Finn.

"Great choice. Your smoothie will be out soon." She spins around but has to hold her arms out to steady herself. She hooks Finn's order in front of the kitchen window, and the chef takes it down.

"You okay, Rachel? Ya look like you've seen a ghost or somethin'."

She laughs to herself. She did see a ghost. A particularly handsome ghost that she missed and dreamt about nearly every night for the past five years. A ghost that she had once been completely in love with. A ghost that she had a future with. A ghost that needed to get the hell away from her. Now. "Nope. I am perfectly fine. Thank you for asking, Burt," she smiles at him. But she's lying. And she knows it.

Rachel continues waiting on the other tables in the diner, and made sure to direct her gaze away from table 5 at all possible costs, until of course she had to bring him his food. "Here ya go," she says as she throws his food onto the table. He just winks at her, which disgusts her and puts her in a starry-eyed daze at the same time.

She turns to walk away, but Finn grabs her wrist and somehow twists his arm so that she lands softly into the booth opposite him, with an "umph". She sighs. "What do you want Finn? Why are you here?" she says, not trying to avoid his intentful gaze.

"Never mind that now, Rach." He starts to speak but then stops and smiles at her sweetly. "Have dinner with me."

"No. I'm working."

"Later. How about six o'clock?"

"No. I'll still be working. Listen, you can't just follow me to New York and expect me to forget everything that happened. God dammit, Finn, you just can't do that!"

His smile falls. "I know. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever hurt you." She can feel the sincerity in his voice. She's looking into his eyes, and they seem bright and listless, despite the bags underneath them. Rachel examines the rest of his facial features. The classic freckles that cover his nose, laugh lines deep set into the contours of his cheeks, and the dimples. Oh God the dimples. The way they twitch when the corners of his lips curve upward. How she just wants to squeeze them, like his grandmother.

Her head starts to shake. Snap out of it. Snap. Out. Of. It.

"Yeah, well sorry doesn't cut it Finn. Not anymore."

"Please?" He flashes a comical grin and bats his eyelashes. He knows just how to win her over.

Her chest rises heavily, and then falls. She looks away and pushes her hands into the seat so that she can stand. He grabs her hand again. "Is that a yes?" She can't resist that smile.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mutters to herself. "Fine, Finn. I'll go. Happy now?"

"Much." His smile makes her blush as he drops her hand.

Rachel gathers her thoughts and returns to work. His eyes follow her everywhere as she hurries around the restaurant. He takes large bites out of his probably cold burger. It's almost impossible for her to function properly now, and her hands start shaking. She nearly spills a scorching hot coffee pot on herself, because she was too busy giving Finn short glances from across the room. "Dammit," she whispers to herself. Suddenly he is next to her.

"You okay?"

"Yes, Finn. I am fine," she says to him, never meeting his eyes. She starts to wipe up the spilled coffee with a rag. After a minute she notices he's still standing over her. "Go away already!" She pushes his stomach. He laughs and backs up, mouthing "fine". He walks backward to his table.

The rest of her shift continues like this; he doesn't leave after he finishes eating. "Are you gonna go?" she asks him, nearly half an hour after he payed the bill. He's ordered several slices of chocolate peanut butter tofu pie so that the manager doesn't make him leave.

He looks up at her and she notices his hair. It's still deep chocolate brown, and is tussled perfectly and sticks up in all the right places. "I'm waiting for someone."

She scoffs. "Lucky them." She can hear him laugh as she turns away.

The place is still full of paying customers when she rips of her coffee-stained apron. She knows she should stay, make more money, but a part deep inside of her wants to have that date with Finn, so she doesn't.

Rachel gathers her coat and purse in her hands and pushes through the front door, without even acknowledging his existence. She's outside three second before she hears the bell ring, and Finn comes out, following her like a lost puppy. He jogs to catch up to her. "So. What's good around here?" he says, looking towards the restaurants across the street.

"I don't know," Rachel replies without feeling.

"You've been here five years, and you don't know of any good vegan restaurants?" he says sarcastically. Her heart flutters when she realizes he added vegan in there. He really is aiming to please.

"How can you still be hungry? You ate like ten slices of pie."

"Six, actually." An awkward silence ensues as they continue walking down the street, Rachel moving at a quick pace. "Besides, I'm not. You haven't eaten for eight hours, you should be hungry."

"Yeah, well I'm not," she says right before her stomach grumbles, almost comically.

"Uh huh," he says, accenting the last syllable. She stops out of nowhere, but Finn keeps walking because he was staring at a building. Her eyes are focused on the ground, but she can see him notice she's not next to him anymore, and walk back to her slowly. "What's wro-"

"Why are you here?"

"Huh?"

"What are you doing here?" She can feel heat rushing to her cheeks as she stammers over her words. She's gonna lost it. Rachel looks up and she can see his lips are trying to find words. "Dammit, Finn, why did you do this to me? You knew how I felt about you, and then you..." Her voice whimpers out. "I was finally starting to get over you, to get over us, and you then you show up, out of the blue, unannounced, and expect me to forget it all. Well I can't. I just can't!" Tears are filling her eyes now.

"Rachel, I-. I want us to start over. I'm so sorry for what I did and I hated myself for it, and I couldn't stop thinking about you, and. Listen." He tugs her chin up so her eyes meet his. "You don't have to forget what happened. Hell, you don't even have to forgive me. But damn, please give me a second chance. Please." His words are strong, and full of meaning and passion. She admires his courage.

"I don't know. I just don't know, Finn." Her tears start to fall down her cheeks. He hugs her. His long arms cover her and she buries her face into his chest and she hopes he never lets go. She's getting warm now, as his neck curves over her head. They stay like this for several minutes.

Finn pulls back and his arms attach themselves to her shoulders. He looks down at her. She can see love in his eyes. "Now. This is the first time I've been to New York, and I'll be damned if I spend it crying." One of his arms drops while the other wraps around the back of her midriff. She laughs. They start walking as he says "I saw a sign for a bowling alley a block back. How does that sound?" She looks up at him and nods. He wipes the corner of her eyes with his thumb. "Cool. Vamos."

I really hope you liked this one better than the original. I do. I want the chapters to be longer, so there might start to be two or three days between new chapter postings. Hope y'all don't mind. :)

So, please tell me what you think in a review. If you already reviewed it and it won't let you again, don't worry, you can tell me what you thought in the Chapter Two reviews. :)

Oh! Also, I decided that this would become a series. Since the title is 'Glee: The Later Years', and not 'Rachel and Finn: The Later Years', I couldn't possibly leave out the other characters and focus entirely on Finn and Rachel. Even if I wanted to. So, after this story is over, I will start another one, surrounding other members of New Directions. When this one is coming to a close, I will ask what characters you guys want to see most. :)

Adios por ahora,

cappievonbuettner