We'll Be a Dream A/N: So I've been getting back into my obsession with We the Kings, which stopped when Owl City came into my life. I've loved them from when their first CD came out and it hasn't changed. The reason I got back into my obsession is because of their temporary bassist, who I've been watching him and his wife since 2009, when they were still just bf and gf. So, that explains that. Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Glee. It belongs to Ryan Murphy and FOX. The song "We'll Be a Dream" and the title "The Secret to New York" belongs to We the Kings. Chapter One The Secret to New York Finn's POV August 7, 2016 Manhattan, New York I walk out of JFK, ready to start my life off after four years of college. With 5 bags of luggage, $4200 to my name, and a goal to reach, I wait for a cab. I thought that maybe it would be the Cash Cab and I can answer my way to more money to start off my life with, but of course, I was wrong. Dammit, I HATE it when I get my hopes up. We drive from JFK through Manhattan. God, no wonder people wanna move here. It's perfect. It's been since we went to Nationals junior year since I've been here. I always wanted to come back, but I could never find the time or money or even the reason to come back here. We pull up to the apartment Kurt and Blaine are staying in, about 4-5 blocks away from where Kurt went to school. Kurt said he wanted to relocate the next summer after Blaine graduates from NYU, so by then this place could be mine. And maybe, just maybe, it won't be JUST mine anymore. "FINN HUDSON! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"Oh, Kurt found me. I drop my stuff on the floor and hug my brother. It's been a good few months since we've seen each other. I went to his graduation from Juilliard, while he went to my graduation from OSU. "God we've missed you Finn!" He hugs me again and keeps squeezing me. God I hate it when he does this to me. "Kurt, baby you're squeezing him to death." I look to see Blaine coming in from their kitchen, looking different than he did since Kurt's graduation. He has a small beard growing in (kind of like mine), a longer haircut, and he's gotten taller. Thank god he came in here, or else I would have been crushed to death. Kurt lets go of me and I give a big hug to my brother's boyfriend. They're still going strong, after 6 years, and what Kurt doesn't know is that Blaine's planning on proposing to him after he graduates. Kurt's face will be priceless when he's gonna see Blaine on one knee. Damn, I've been dying to do that for years, but my future brother-in-law is going to first, lucky him. I was close to it at one point, before I went off to OSU. I had the most beautiful girl in the whole world all to myself back when I was at McKinley High. She was perfect. She was everything I ever asked for, and a ton more. I loved her, so much. I still love her to this day, and I hope to love her till the day I die. But, I lost her. The night we broke up left the biggest whole in heart. She said that college is going to break us apart anyway. She was one of the lucky ones who was able to get out of Ohio and I was the stupid one still stuck there. While she had fun following her dreams at NYADA, I was stuck hating my life at OSU. And where are we now, you ask? She's probably starring in a Broadway musical; while I'm here trying to figure out what I'm gonna do with $4200 and a degree in Liberal Arts. Anyway, I take my stuff into their guestroom, leave it on the bed, and I look out the window. God Damn, I never thought I'd actually be able to come to New York, but I'm here. I'm gonna make a name for myself and hopefully find a partner-in-crime for my life. Because, what's the use? The love of my life probably has a boyfriend of a fiancé by now, one who would probably provide for her more than I ever could. I mean, come on. $4200 isn't much. He's probably a millionaire or something like that and probably is a director or actor on Broadway. What am I? A Lima Loser who is unemployed and is living with his brother and his brother's boyfriend. Maybe I'll find someone like her in this city, just maybe. I unpack my things into the drawers and the closet, and I walk out to see Kurt and Blaine making out, as they always did, and apparently still do. Seeing that I don't wanna see this OR have them see me, I decide to take a walk to find a Starbucks. Jetlag is a BITCH so; it's time for a coffee run. On my way down Broadway, I see signs for every show, but none of them were starring the love of my life. Walked by 10 different Starbuckses, knowing I should have stopped at one of them, but I just kept walking. Eventually, I stop at one, then realizing that I remember coming to this Starbucks years ago while we were in New York for Nationals. I walk in to see a familiar face working at the counter. "…Karofsky? Is that you?" I walk over to the counter. "Hudson, nice to see you again." He shook my hand while I had a shocked expression on my face. "How did you end up in the Big Apple Hudson?" he asked me. I told him the truth. I felt alone in Lima and I remember being here for Nationals and it was my favorite place I ever went to. "I didn't wanna be a Lima Loser for the rest of my life and I always thought that coming to New York was the place for opportunities, so I decided to come here. Why did you come here Karofsky?" I asked him. "Well, I needed to leave Ohio too. I decided to apply at a college in Virginia and I made it there, but I didn't have the money to go there. I decided to just wait a couple years to go to college and get a job so I can pay my way through. I had a job working at an engineering company, but it wasn't working out for me, so I decided to come to New York to get a better job. Now I work here in the spring and summer while I have an internship at another engineering company during the fall and winter. And I got my associate degree last year."I was shocked. Karofsky's got his life in check now. He's got 2 jobs and a degree to work with. What do I have? NOTHING. "That's great. Better than what I've done." I told him, then noticing an angry customer standing in back of me. "Before I hold up the line anymore than it is, I'll have a Grande Caramel Macchiato." I pay for my coffee and I wait. God, it seems like everyone I know from high school has got it made now, everyone except me. I notice the stack of applications on the table near the "pickup" area of the place and I decide to take one. Hey, if Karofsky can do it, I could do it. "One Grande Caramel Macchiato?" another worker says, while she hands me my coffee. I thank her while putting the application in my bag. I decide to leave, hoping to not return in the middle of the make out session. Not knowing I was in my own little world, I accidentally run into someone, making her drop a ton of papers onto the floor. Goddamn me. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry…I…I wasn't paying attention. Damn…I'm sorry."I put my coffee on the table and helped her grab her papers. She has the most gorgeous brunette hair ever, although a knitted hat is covering part of it. "It's okay…I wasn't paying attention either." She has a beautiful voice, but it sounds really familiar though. I look down at her papers to notice they say "Rehearsal Schedules" or "Music Sheet" or "Les Misérables" on it. Then I look up to see a beautiful and familiar face that I never thought I'd ever see again. "Rachel?" I ask. The second I look into her eyes, I see our past. Meeting her in Glee club sophomore year, our first kiss in the auditorium, singing at Sectionals with her, the first time I told her I loved her at Regionals, wishing on Grilled Cheesus to get to second base with her, watching her sing at Regionals, watching her sing at Junior Prom, getting kicked out of Junior Prom after getting into a fight with St. Jackass, our time in New York during Nationals, our triumphant return as a couple, our first time together, our first Christmas together, singing at Nationals, her face when we PLACED in Nationals, and singing together for the last time at graduation. I remember everything in that one second of seeing her again. She looks at me in shock, while kind of smiling at the same time. "Finn? Finn Hudson?" she asks me. Oh please God, please don't let her not remember me. "Finn!" She gives me the biggest hug ever, while still squatting on the floor. Noticing her on-going love for wearing short skirts, I decide to get her off the floor, then hug her some more. "God Rach…I see you're still rocking the miniskirts" I laugh at her and so does she. God I've missed her laugh. It was so cute and adorable and it made me even happier hearing it again. "Well, not everything changed since high school…I AM Rachel Berry you know." I laugh. God I wish I could sweep her off her feet and kiss her senselessly, but most likely she had a new boyfriend and I would only be a friend, like I expected. "Why don't we sit down and talk for a little bit? I'm done rehearsals till around 8 tonight…" She tells me. "Sure, I mean I kind of don't wanna go back to find my brothers' make out session any farther." She laughs at me, and then sits down in one of the chairs, while I sit on the other side. "So wait, are Kurt and Blaine are like…married now?" She asked me. Oh god, here comes my family's drama now. "Well, not yet…Blaine's gotta ring, but he's not gonna propose till May." I tell her. "Six years together and they're getting engaged in 9 months? Well, tell Blaine I say congrats…" She tells me, putting her papers in her bag. "So, how long has Mr. Hudson been in New York?" I start to kind of laugh, but try to keep a serious face on. "I…just got here today actually." Her face turned into complete shock. "You're first day in the Big Apple, and you run into four people you went to high school with? Congrats Mr. Hudson." She laughs at me. "I was all alone when I came to New York…I couldn't even find Kurt when I got here. When I got into NYADA, I was so alone, I felt that I was gonna hate it there. Then I met my roommate and she introduced me to a ton of people and, yeah. Unfortunately I had to deal with Harmony for three years until she graduated. She's off somewhere else performing so I don't really care. Now, I do believe you haven't told me about OSU yet Finn…" She tells me. What am I gonna tell her about my time at OSU? It sucked because you weren't there with me Rachel. Umm, I kind of can't say that. "It was okay. Went in for a Liberal Arts major, played some intramural football, joined their choir, not much. Stuck with Santana and somehow Brittany for four years straight, but I never had to see them. Lost touch with Puck after he dropped out of CSCC, and I talk to Sam about twice a month now. No one in Ohio's changed…Santana's still a cruel bitch, Brittany's still dumb as hell, Puck's still the same badass, and Sam's still Trouty Mouth. But it seems like Ms. Berry has changed a lot hasn't she?" She tries to steal a sip from my coffee, and I stop her. "Well, I guess maybe I'm wrong?" I laugh. God, I've missed her so much. "Maybe, just maybe." She looks at her phone for the time. "Well, I better get going…I gotta get dinner and get ready for rehearsal but, It was nice talking to you again Finn." She takes out a marker from her bag that's covered in gold stars she must've drew on it with Sharpies. "Here's my new number…" She writes it on my arm. "Call me so we can catch up more okay?" She smiles at me, then waves goodbye to me. And then, she was off into the hustle and bustle of New York. Just to see her again, I feel like my life is complete again. She's basically almost the same girl that was my girlfriend in high school, but with new friends, a new career, and worst of all, without me there to witness every part of her life now. I decide that it's time to leave, so I grab my coffee and leave the Starbucks to return the same way I went to Starbucks, while thinking. I walked past all of these Starbucks on my way to the one I ended up to, but I end up at the one that the love of my life walked into. Maybe Grilled Cheesus is trying to tell me something. Maybe this is 1. Proof that me and Rachel were always meant for each other and 2. Maybe, just maybe, I'm giving another chance to prove to her that I never stopped loving her. Looking up at the sky, I thank Grilled Cheesus and I drink more from my coffee, then I look down at the number on my arm. I know I'm gonna call her, but the question is when? Maybe around 7 tonight, before she goes off to rehearsal. I end up back at the Hummel-Anderson apartment to see Kurt and Blaine cuddled up on the sofa, watching some show on LOGO. "Hey" Kurt says to me, while trying to sit up. "I didn't realize you left. So, did you like the city?" He asked me. Of course he didn't realize I left. "Kurt, it's not like this is the first time I've been here. And yes, I did like the city, although every Starbucks in this city's got long ass lines." I take a drink from my coffee and I see Kurt and Blaine both looking at my arm. "So, who'd you meet there?" Blaine asks me. I start to kind of blush. "Ohh, just this girl." I tell them, trying not to reveal who it was. Maybe they'll have a hard time trying to figure it out, or maybe they'll get it right on their first guess, I don't know, but it's worth a try. Kurt comes up to me and tries to see the number. "Well, this number is really familiar, and so is this handwriting. Do I know her? Maybe it's a girl from Juilliard I know." I start to laugh. "Well, she did say she went to a music school. Maybe Juilliard, maybe NYU…I don't remember, but she's now an understudy in some Broadway show." I think they're completely clueless. I mean Rachel DID say she hasn't talked to Kurt since before they came to New York and I'm pretty sure she hasn't talked to Blaine either, so maybe I can surprise them with her, just maybe. "Wow Finn, always getting the Broadway girls I see?" Blaine laughs. "Yeah, must be my luck" I laugh while he does. God they have no clue. "Well, I'm gonna try to get some sleep…talk to ya guys later." I go into my room, and strip down to my boxers and undershirt, only to see Rachel's number on my arm. God, what an amazing day, I thought, while I start to fall asleep, only to see my dreams filled with Rachel…