A/N: I will post four mini-chapters per chapter, so enjoy.

i.

Rachel Berry, a twenty five years old New Yorker. Ever since she was a little girl, her biggest dream was to get on Broadway and be a part of those amazingly magical musicals her daddies watched with her when she was little. However, things were tough. Ever since her off-Broadway West Side Story tour was over, it was getting difficult to find a decent job. Even a job, anyjob would be lovely by now. She shared her apartment with her friend Kurt Hummel, who still went to college on Juilliard, studying dramatic arts. She was worried because Kurt was always so organized and always paid the rent just on time, she on the other hand… Well, she wasn't exactly therichestgirlintheworldat the moment.

As she went through the papers that morning, trying to look for some kind of audition, she read something that caught her eye:

"Professional singer needed. If interested, contact Finn Hudson."

Oh yes. A job wasn't a problem anymore.

ii.

Finn Hudson set there on the little table with an unpleased look on his face, the frown on his forehead passing his thoughts quite alright. He had been looking for someone to sing in his bar for a month now and yet, no one seemed to fit. Sure, there were some great singers there, but no one was quite what he was looking for. There was this girl who auditioned named Brittany, who seemed to be more of a dancer than anything, since she kept forgetting the lyrics, claiming they were confusing; there was also this other girl named Sugar who - he assumed – was trying to make him deaf and lastly, this woman named Mercedes who seemed to belt out every note, even the ones she wasn't supposed to.

Just as he thought he was through, he heard tiny, quiet footsteps on the little performing stage. As his eyes looked up from the sheet filled with all those women's names, he felt his heart almost jump off his chest.

A tiny brunette stood in front of him, a sly smile on her lips as she waved him hello shyly. She had big brown eyes that seemed to look into his soul and melt his heart; her lips were pink and full – which he thought would be perfect for a kiss -, her curls were soft and dark, falling free from her shoulders and she wore a cotton pink dress with two little gold stars on each one of her sleeves. Clearing her throat, she began with a shy smile creeping on her lips.

"Hello, I'm Rachel Berry and I'll be auditioning with the song Maybe This Time from the amazingly theatrical and iconic musical Cabaret." Finn nodded, allowing her to go on as she began.

"Maybe this time I'll be lucky, maybe this time he'll stay. Maybe this time – for the first time – love won't hurry away!"

The young man smiled. Her voice was soft, her looks unique and her charisma seemed good enough. However, as she began singing, he couldn't really focus on something else.

"He'll hold me fast; I'll be home at least. Not a loser like the last time and the time before. Everybody loves a winner so nobody loves me. Lady peaceful, lady happy, that's what I long to be, well all the odds are, they are in my favor, something's bound to begin! It's gonna happen – happen sometime – maybe this time I will win!" She sang the last part perfectly, holding the final note long enough to send shivers down his spine.

She looked up at him as if she was searching for approval in his eyes, something she found rather quickly. Finn stood up and began clapping cheerfully, bowing to the tiny woman in front of him as she giggled lightly, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"So that means I wasn't horrible?" She bit her lip, playing with a curl lightly. Finn's eyes were wide and glistening, the caramel color on them making Rachel feel embarrassed. He was really adorable but in a manly, handsome way.

"You, my dear, were terrific!" He nodded, patting her shoulder lightly, making her bit her lip. "Why are you here? Why aren't you famous yet? I-I just don't really get it. I don't." He chuckled lightly, making her giggle along with him. She looked up at him and whispered a thank you. He nodded and smiled brightly down at her.

"So… When can you begin?"

iii.

She had been working on Hudson's for almost a month now and so far, Finn had been one of the best bosses she had ever had in her life. He was sweet, caring and understanding – not to mention incredibly handsome – and she loved working with him. Sometimes, they escaped a bit for a coffee break and she always laughed so much with him, his life stories were truly amusing.

So one day after work, she convinced him to come along with her to one of her favorite bars, which he thought it was hilarious since he owneda bar and they didn't really have to pay for the drinks there, but whatever.

As she dragged him down the 5th avenue, they stopped in front of a little, hidden place and they could hear the music coming from the inside. Rachel beamed up at him and walked in the place slowly. As he walked in behind the brunette, a woman with Asian features and a huge smile on her lips threw herself in Rachel's arms.

"Rachie, you are here!" She squealed, giggling as Rachel tried not to fall down, Finn supporting her back subtly. The woman opened her eyes slowly and analyzed Finn up and down, biting her lip and smiling shyly. Rachel pulled away lightly and frowned, but the frown on her forehead quickly turned into an eyebrow raise and a smile on her lips.

"Oh, this is so rude of me!" She gave her own forehead a light smack, touching the Asian's shoulder. "Tina, this is my boss, Finn Hudson. Finn, this is my good friend, Tina Cohen Chang." Rachel cheered as Tina offered her hand, shaking Finn's firmly. Finn could watch another Asian coming from behind both girls and he smiled, nodding at the man, who nodded back politely before kissing Tina's lips softly.

"And this is Mike Chang!" Rachel giggled, hugging Mike tightly. "He is Tina's husband and they own this place." Rachel smiled, rubbing Tina's arm softly. Mike stretched his hand at Finn, who shook it properly. As the girls walked away while linking arm, cheering and giggling about 'needing to catch up', Mike offered Finn a drink – on the house – and he wouldn't really say no. He didn't want to be rude.

Mike handed him a glass and smiled. "Cheers!" He chuckled before taking the beer in hands and drinking it swiftly. As they stared at their glasses awkwardly for a moment, Mike cleared his throat, breaking the silence between them.

"So, Finn" He began, smiling politely. "How is it to work with Rachel?" He asked, a slight interest could be heard in the tone of his voice. Finn smiled.

"Oh, it's great. She's really talented and responsible. Sometimes, she comes to the bar before I do." He chuckled. "She's also really fun. We always hang out after work. The one thing I can't stand though is her slight obsession with bringing herself down. It sucks how she always thinks so little of herself." Finn sighed, looking over at Rachel who was spinning around with Tina and giggling uncontrollably. Mike nodded.

"Yeah, Rach is an amazing girl, but she is really insecure. If you give her time, she'll let you in though, and then you'll know the real her." Mike smiled, patting Finn's shoulder lightly. Finn frowned. Did that mean he didn't know the Rachel he was working with? He already enjoyed spending time with her so much and if he already liked this Rachel, imagine the real her.

Finn was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt a tiny hand tug on his softly, warm and soft fingers brushing against his knuckles. As his eyes drifted up slowly, he found a very giggly Rachel pulling him by the hand, begging for him to stand up.

"Come on, Finn!" She smiled softly, brushing her fingertips against his knuckles again, making him lick his lips at the contact. It felt comfortable. Getting up in surrender and seeing a smile on her lips, he frowned as she began dragging him down the bar.

"Where are we going?" He asked curiously, his stomach clenching nervously as they walked closer to the stage where two people had just got off of.

"To sing, of course!" She smiled at him over her shoulder. She tried pulling him a little more near the stage, but he stopped dead on his tracks, not moving an inch. Heck no, he was not going to sing. Rachel huffed, her hands on her hips, squeezing her eyes tightly while glaring at him. Uh oh, he was in trouble. "Finn!" She whined, tugging on his wrist lightly. "Come on! You know you want to!" She tried, biting her lip in that adorable way, making his eyes fly instantly to her mouth, licking his own lips and when her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips, he took in a deep breath. "Finn?" She asked, bringing him out of his daydreaming.

"I-I can't sing." He stuttered out, his hands flying instantly to his jeans pockets, hiding and watching the disappointment on Rachel's face as her hands fell from his wrists. Sighing, she walked closer to him, adjusting the collar of his shirt with a smile, smoothing his shirt with her tiny hands.

"Look…" She began, looking up at him with bright eyes and he knew she was about to give her the everyone is special speech. You couldn't just be sad around Rachel. She was like a walking sunshine. "I've heard you singing at work before while you fixed up something behind the bar and Finn? Look at me." She pulled his chin so he would stare at her. "You are good. Like, really good. So talented. You may not know it, but I do, okay? And come on, listen to me. Who is the Broadway star around here?" She asked with a teasing smile.

"You are…" He replied with a silly grin, retrieving his hands from his pockets and holding his hand out for her, who gladly took it.

"That's right, I am!" She cheered, pulling him by the hand and walking towards the stage with him. As they got up there, Finn glanced over at Rachel who was talking about something with Tina and playing with the microphones and Finn gulped. Finally there, he was able to catch a decent glimpse of the place. It wasn't bad at all, actually. The tables were wooden and short, the bar was long and a lot of people sat on the little seats, watching them as Rachel moved happily on the stage, a couple of women shot Finn a smirk and he could hear Rachel had huffed. Handing him the microphone, she smiled, brushing her hand against his softly with a smile as if she was assuring him everything would be okay and he smiled back, suddenly feeling warm and safe inside. Rachel took the microphone with a smile.

"Good evening, everyone! I'm Rachel Barbra Berry and this is my friend, Finn Hudson." She pointed at Finn and that made him smile. She considered him a friend? Awesome."And tonight, we are bound to amaze you all with our incredibly shocking singing skills because honestly, we are just that good. Hit it!" She said with a giggle. Finn swallowed hard: did he know the song? The people? No. No, he didn't.

But suddenly, as the melody began playing, he knew she had picked one of his favorite songs. Looking over at her with a smirk, she whispered at him:

"You told me at work this is one of your favorites." She said with a slight blush, shrugging. He smiled and felt confidence washing through him in a sudden moment. The music began playing and Finn kept his eyes glued on her.

"Baby let's cruise" He began with a smirk, suddenly forgetting about everyone else in the room, replaying the scene from that movie Duets in his head.

"Away from here" She sang softly, approaching him with a flirty smile, sending butterflies to his stomach instantly. He almost forgot his part.

"Don't be confused" He smiled, feeling so much comfortable now.

"The way is clear" She smirked, swaying her hips in the most adorable way, making him chuckle lightly. Suddenly, he realized they would be singing together now and he felt his hands beginning to sweat.

"And if you want it you got it forever, this is not a one night stand, baby, yeah so let the music take your mind, just release and you will find" They sang and then Finn realized how amazingly perfect they sounded together, it was the perfect harmony. "You're gonna fly away, glad you are going my way, I love it when we are cruisin' together! The music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love, I love it when we are cruisin' together!"

As the instrumental played on the background, Rachel swayed her hips to the music, earning a chuckle from Finn and some whistles from the crowd. Taking his hand, she squeezed it lightly and stared deeply in his eyes as he continued to sing.

"Baby tonight"

"Belongs to us" She sang with him softly.

"Everything's right" He let out in the sexiest, most husky voice in the world that made her knees tremble.

"Do what you must" She smiled through the notes, walking closer to him with a seductive look in her eyes, making him grin like an idiot.

"And inch by inch we get closer and closer to every little part of each other oh baby, yeah!" They sang, completely ignoring the rest of the world as if they were the only two humans in that room. Smiling at each other like mad, they continued. "Let the music take your mind, just release and you'll find. You're gonna fly away, glad you are going my way, I love it when we are cruisin' together! The music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love, I love it when we are cruisin' together!" They smiled. "You're gonna fly away, glad you are going my way, I love it when we are cruisin' together!" They sang the final part, staring at each other intense fully for a moment.

Suddenly being aware of the existence of other people in the room, they turned around to face the crowd with flushed cheeks as everyone cheered and applauded for them. Rachel pulled Finn by the wrist and took a bow in front of the stage naturally as Finn clumsily tried bending over enough to bow like her, earning a giggle from her.

iv.

After an hour of more drinks and silly jokes, Finn decided it was time to go home and of course, he wouldn't let Rachel walk home by herself. As they walked through the Central Park, Rachel smiled up at him, feeling good at the way there was barely any room between them. Giggling, she bit her lip, making his turn his attention back to her with a grin on his lips. He loved her laugh.

"What?" He smirked, biting the inside of his cheeks so he wouldn't grin too widely.

"You are clumsy." She stated with a nod, earning a grin from him. "Like, when we were about to take a bow… You were all clumsy, barely falling off the stage." She giggled, bumping her shoulder against his lightly.

"Hey, that's not funny! Don't make fun of your boss, Rachel!" He chuckled, tickling her side playfully, making her bit her lip.

"Whatcha gonna do, Finny? Fire me?" She asked with a playful smirk, stopping in front of him with her hands on her hips, swaying on her calves in the most adorable way. "You can't fire me! I'm good, you know! Like, really, really good!" She told him with a proud smirk.

Finn knew she was completely drunk because as ironic as it seems, Rachel Berry worked in a bar but she barely drank – somethingabout her vocal chords – so whenever she took more than three shots, she started getting woozy. Finn was quite aware of that the first time they hung out and she suddenly belt out IWillSurvive after two and a half beers.

"I know you are." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and walking her down the street. He kept checking out the park and he noticed he never really went there besides walking by. He should really begin knowing New York more. He had been living there for three years now. Leaving Ohio wasn't easy, he remembered, but it was better making a life there and being someone then staying back and being just another Lima loser.

As they walked a little more, Rachel began tap dancing with her heels and squealing at the little sound they made. – It sounds like horses, Finn, but it's not! It's not, you see! – And he had to walk near her, making sure she wouldn't fall at every corner, his strong arms wrapping around her at some point as she tripped on the sidewalk. She looked up at him, her eyes dazzling with adoration and well… Alcohol.

"Thank you." She whispered with a large beam. "If it weren't for you, I'd have fallen on my head! You are like, my prince in a shining armor!" She squealed, hugging him tightly and bouncing up and down against him. Pulling away with a chuckle, he wrapped his arms protectively around her shoulder and smiled.

"Anytime you need me, babe."

A/N: Thoughts? Let me know. Songs used in this chapter: 'Maybe This Time' by Cabaret and 'Cruisin' by Smokey Robinson.