A/N: Hey, everyone! So, this is my first fic and it's being really fun to write it. I hope you all enjoy it too. Many, many thanks to JannP, for being such a lovely person and for betaing this prologue for me. And thanks a million times to wood-u-like-2-no, my awesome beta, without whom I think I wouldn't be able to pull this off. :)

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee or any of its characters. They're all Fox and Ryan Murphy property. This is just for fun!

Prologue

Yesterday was the day Rachel Berry was supposed to move out.

She's happy she won't have to after all. Of course, she'd already made all those arrangements and undoing them is giving her difficulty, and choosing wasn't exactly easy. The other apartment is bigger, newer, and closer to work; but then again, the current one is much cheaper, in Jared's neighborhood, and she's got Kurt here. It's home.

Okay, so maybe it isn't hard to choose.

She rolls in bed and buries her face in her pillow. She can't wait to tell Kurt the big news because he's going be so thrilled. They've been living in the same building for two years now. She's spent a lot of time being miserable while picturing her life without him as her neighbor. It's been hard enough living without him for the past three weeks and they're such good friends now she probably couldn't make it in the long run without him always around.

Kurt is in London, taking a three-month long fashion course, so she's all alone. She's got Jared, sure, and Blaine is in town, but it isn't the same. So she's been dying to tell Kurt the news but figured it was much better to keep it a secret and surprise him after his return from London.

She smiles and stretches in bed, happy to see a sunny day. Once again, she thinks about Kurt and feels an urge to call him; instead, she gets up and goes to the kitchen to make some coffee. It's a daily routine she really enjoys: having a nice breakfast, reading the news, and doing yoga. During Kurt's absence she's reading both the Times and the Post, since he forgot to cancel the delivery and she couldn't deal with the stack of paper building up in front of his door.

She holds her hair up in a ponytail while she opens the door. She reaches down for her Times and stops once she straightens up and is ready to go to Kurt's door because there's this big man staring at her from across the hall with Kurt's Post in his hands, and he's definitely not Kurt.

It's HIM!

Rachel tries to organize her thoughts but there's some activity in her stomach that won't let her concentrate. If she could put into words, it'd be something like rush-of-adrenaline-meets-gut-wrench. She wonders if maybe, maybe, she's delusional. It's actually a comforting thought, but that probably isn't the case because she's also pretty sure unless she's looking at a well-built clone that tall, handsome, and still boyish-looking man in front of her is indeed Finn Hudson. He's breathing and making some weird and confusing faces; that's what living people do, right?

But God, what is he doing in Kurt's apartment?

Kurt always warns her about Finn's visits, and probably the other way around. It's always so ridiculously awkward when they meet that's almost better if they don't. With all the dodging from both sides, it's been three years since they've last seen each other face-to-face. After some quick math, she's kind of surprised by this realization. Three entire years. That's a lot. Anyway, that doesn't clarify what in hell he's doing here. Not visiting Kurt, obviously, as Kurt's still in London.

She stands there speechless, holding her Times tightly and analyzing whether that nameless feeling in her stomach is growing or subsiding. She happily concludes its subsiding. Still, she can't decide if she should say something -anything- or hurry back inside and pretend it was all a dream. The second option seems reasonable before he talks. Hearing his voice causes another round of the weird stomach squeezing and she feels like rolling her eyes at herself for behaving like a hormonal teenager.

"I didn't expect you to be here," he says quietly. It sounds almost like an apology.

"Where did you expect me to be? This is where I live," she snaps, though she hadn't exactly planned to.

He looks confused. "Uh...well...Kurt said you were moving..."

And to think that she was the one trying to surprise Kurt. Damn him!

"I was. I... Kurt's not back until September. What are you...I..." she's really tongue-tied and doesn't get what he's doing there.

"I'm moving in with Kurt."

Move. In. With. Kurt.

Finn is moving in with Kurt?

Oh, fantastic! She thinks bitterly. Wait…what does he mean moving in? Like he's living inside Kurt's apartment? She's not used to being at a loss for words. Rachel Berry makes full, complete, sentences that always express exactly what she's feeling.

But now she just stutters again. "What about... I don't know... Why…maybe?"

He raises one eyebrow. "Um… it's only until I find some place of my own. Don't worry."

At his words, Rachel suddenly feels kind of embarrassed. One, she's demanding an explanation from her ex-boyfriend and it's not like they have any kind of relationship these days. And two, she notices she's in her pajamas in front of him. Three years later when she runs into him, she's wearing a lame, cotton, teddy bear-patterned baby-doll nightgown. Nice. She instinctively brings the newspaper to her chest, trying to cover some of her exposed skin.

"S-sure. Sure, Finn. So, you're moving to New York?" It's not exactly a pleasant thought.

"Yeah.", he moves his mouth in some kind of half-smile. "Anyway, gotta get some things done and... Nice to see you." He turns to go inside.

"Sure. Nice to see..."

Kurt's apartment door closes shut before she can't finish the sentence.

Rachel stands at her door for a few seconds, still in shock of everything, before she's able to go back inside and close it.

So, Finn...Finn Hudson... is moving to New York. And is settled to be her neighbor for, what, weeks? Months, maybe?

That is so not expected. Can she just undo the paperwork and still move out?

The phone rings and almost scares her to death. She swears to God if it's Kurt calling, she'll yell at him until he decides to swim back from London. Of course, he thinks she's already left the apartment because she hasn't told him she's staying. But didn't it cross his mind she might have to come back to the apartment for something? And what about when she visits him? Was he waiting to tell her about his roommate during some nice dinner together? She will just kill Kurt if she talks to him now.

Rachel runs her hand across her face and finally picks up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Rachel Berry?"

"Yeah, that's me." Good. Not Kurt!

"Hello, Ms. Berry, this is Helga Woods, from the real estate..."

"Oh, God! Good. I really need to ask you something..."

The woman doesn't seem to listen and continues. "...to inform you that all your paperwork is fine and you're locked into your lease for another year. Congratulations!"

Her shoulders slump. "Ah. Thank you."

That's it. She apparently just got herself a long lease and a new neighbor. Rachel hangs up and stares blankly at the door for a few seconds before she grabs her phone again and dials Kurt's number. He picks up sounding like he's chewing. "Rachel, darling! To what do I owe the pleasure of this lunch time conversation?", he answers happily.

She breathes deeply. "Kurt Hummel. I hope you have a really good explanation on why you forgot to tell me that Finn was moving in with you."

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