A/N- Here is what you have all been waiting for! Enjoy! Don't forget to get Rachel's side of the story in "Until I Found Him" by RedAmbition. The link is in my bio.
We still don't own anything except Frank and Tessa.
"You have my iPod." Finn's hand was still holding hers as he wondered how she had ended up with his lucky iPod. His first thought was that maybe Santana had sold it or something out of spite. Maybe this girl bought it from her. It didn't really matter now. What did matter was that the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen was now in possession of it.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry no, you must be mistaken."
He looked at their hands and gently removed his hand from hers, immediately missing the warmth he felt. He was able to look at it once more before she clutched it tightly in her fist. "I'm sure of it. That scratch," he pointed at the familiar scratch marring the face of the green iPod. "I know how it got there."
Finn watched as the small, gorgeous woman raised her eyebrows in question. "Please, enlighten me."
"I was getting this," he lifted the sleeve of his grey t-shirt showing her the tribal arm band encircling his bicep, "and I dropped it on the floor." Finn chose not to elaborate on the exact reason that he dropped it as the woman's cheeks flushed red. He lowered his sleeve, internally marveling at the woman's reaction to him.
"That's very umm, I-" She seemed to think for a minute before asking another question. "Ok, name three of the songs on the My Favorites playlist."
Finn racked his brain for three songs on the list. It's not like he had changed it when he got his new iPod, why was it so hard to remember these thing when you were put on the spot? Suddenly remembering, he lifted his hand ticking his fingers up as he listed the songs. "Okay, um, Jessie's Girl, More Than a Feeling, and Don't Stop Believing."
"Darn it…" She tilted her head, seeming thinking of another way to verify that this was his iPod. "Alright, if this is really your iPod, what is engraved on the back?"
He had to hand it to the girl; she was asking all the right questions. If it wasn't his iPod he would never be able to answer these. But, it was his iPod so he did know the answers. "To follow that star." He answered easily and with a fair bit of pride. Those were the lyrics from one of his favorite songs, engraved there as a gift from Kurt.
The woman's mouth dropped open, indicating that Finn was correct even before her words could. "That's right. Huh, what are the odds of that?"
"I'm right huh?" He triumphed. "That is my iPod. Where did you find it?" Finn watched as she placed her hands on her hips, the iPod still in her fist. Despite the revelation that she was currently in possession of someone else's iPod, the gorgeous stranger seemed to be taking it in stride.
"I found it in my apartment one night, though I'm fairly certain I've never seen you before to have invited you over. Of course, do you happen to know a Santana Lopez."
Finn groaned at the smirk that she was wearing. "Yeah…" Where was she going with this? The girl giggled slightly and Finn was slightly scared at what she might know.
"Ah, I see. I take it you lost this with the rest of your clothes?"
Crap. How do people keep finding out about that? Unable to help himself, he groaned again, certain his cheeks were now red. "Apparently. I'm never going to live that down. How do you know Santana?" He hoped a subject change would steer the conversation away from that night.
"Probably not," She shrugged. "She is my best friend and roommate for far too many years."
Even though he had stripped naked in front of the girl's roommate, she didn't seem to be judging him for it. He appreciated that and took it as a good sign that she didn't run from him immediately. "That was not my finest moment. I hope you don't hold it against me."
"I'm sure you had your reasons. If it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only man in New York City who has tried that technique. I had my own unfortunate experience a few months ago."
Finn shook his head. At least Puck wasn't just setting him up for embarrassment, apparently this was a thing. A thing he would like to stop haunting him. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who has tried it, though I wish I hadn't. It was embarrassing and everybody seems to have heard the story. Even gorgeous women I accidently knock down at the gym." She blushed and Finn couldn't help but think that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"You think I'm gorgeous?"
"Of course I do. Doesn't your boyfriend?" Finn was clearing fishing for information and hoping she didn't have one. Even thought they had only met, he felt drawn to this woman. Like they had known each other for years instead of minutes.
"I actually don't have one at the moment."
It was taking every ounce of self-control Finn had not to literally jump up in excitement, although on the inside he was doing just that. "Oh, uh, that's cool. No!" Oops. He hadn't meant to sound that excited. So much for playing it cool. He rubbed his neck hoping to ease his own awkwardness. "I'm just going to shut up now."
"No, its fine. How about you? Your girlfriend won't be angry with you for giving out such kind, ill-deserved compliments, will she?"
Was she using his own tactic against him? Finn couldn't help the excitement that coursed through him at the thought that she may be interested in him too. "I don't have one so I'm free to compliment whoever I want. And you are… gorgeous, I mean."
"That's very sweet of you, but I can only imagine what a mess I look having just finished my work out."
Finn looked at her feet and pulled his focus up her body, stopping only after he noticed the way her hair was pulled into a bun. If this is what she looks like when she is a 'mess,' he definitely wanted to see what she looked like put together. "Trust me, you look great. Did you have somewhere to be right now?"
"I have voice lessons in an hour and a half. Why do you ask?"
"There is a great smoothie place around the corner, I was wondering if you might, uh, want to grab one with me." A slow smile spread across her face and he was optimistic about her answer.
"Smoothies with a stranger? I don't even know your name."
Finn mentally kicked himself, how did he not already know the name of the woman he was already captivated with? "Oh! It's Finn. Finn Hudson. And yours?"
"Rachel Berry."
Even her name sounded angelic. Finn couldn't help repeating it. "Rachel," he spoke her name softly and almost with reverence; he liked the way it felt rolling off his tongue and he longed for the chance to say it again. He shook his head, trying to regain his composure. "Now that we aren't strangers anymore, do you have time for that smoothie? I don't want to make you late."
"I think I do, actually. But I won't have much time."
"Okay. Let help you with that." Finn bent down to retrieve her bright pink yoga mat off the ground where it had fallen when he collided with her. She handed him her bag and they left the gym. Finn wondered if he should go back for his own bag, but decided that this was more important.
He had time. He could come back for it later.
"Oh! I should probably give this back now, huh." She held her small hand out, palm up, showing him the green iPod resting in her palm
Finn smiled and reached for her hand only to clasp her fingers back around the device. "No. You keep it. I've already replaced it and it seems to like you."
She brought her clasped hand to her chest, holding it over her heart as she spoke once again. "I was really hoping you would say that. Elphaba has become sort of my good luck charm."
"It was always mine too." It still is he thought. He marveled at how the loss of his iPod, and supposed good luck charm, was thought to be the end of the world, when instead, it seemed to be the exact opposite. Perhaps his lucky charm was still acting as such, even in someone else's possession. "Uh, so Elphaba huh? Where did you come up with that?"
"You don't recognize it? The famous musical Wicked?" Finn watched as she looked at him expectantly. He only shook his head indicating he didn't know it. "This is a terrible problem, Finn how can you not know Wicked? Have you been living under a rock?"
He chuckled. "In a fire house actually." Once again, her face tinted a cherry red color. Finn wondered why she was kept doing that.
And how he could get her to do it again. He loved the way the red in her cheeks lit up her brown eyes even more.
"Well either way, this is a wrong that must be righted. Wicked is still showing on Broadway now, I insist that you find time outside of work to go and see it. You won't regret it, it's an incredible show"
This was his opening. He steadied his breathing and attempted to sound casual while he gathered the information that could possibly lead to a date –a real date- with Rachel. "When was the last time you saw it?"
"It's been a while actually, not since they swapped the lead actress. But it's a wonderful show; I'll probably go see it again soon"
Finn kept his focus forward as they took their place in the short line in front of The Groovy Smoothie. He hoped that would help him to keep his cool while asking the next question. "Maybe we could see it sometime… together. We could grab dinner before, if you want to?"
"That sounds like a lovely evening to me."
As soon as her answer was given, it was their turn to order. The talk lanky kid behind the counter took their order, making the two smoothies while Finn paid. He handed them the refreshing drinks and Finn led them to a small table set up on the sidewalk. Finn carefully set down her belongings and took his seat.
"It was clear that I meant dinner and the show with me, right? Like a date?" He asked, hopeful.
She giggled slightly and Finn found that that may be his new favorite sound ever. "Crystal. I'm actually glad you care enough to clarify. The last 'date' I went on actually turned out to not be a real date at all. I wish I had taken the time to clarify beforehand, I sat through I Don't Wanna Know for nothing."
"That move was terrible. I saw most of it, but thankfully I got kicked out by security." Finn rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and took a sip from his smoothie, remembering just how awful that movie was.
"That's funny, when I saw it there was a man who got kicked out for tossing popcorn." Busted. Finn looked out to the street and then to his smoothie, basically just avoiding looking at her as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh my God, that was you, wasn't it."
She already knew about the naked man and she didn't run; may as well just own up to it. "Uh, well, sounds like me. Frank was cool about it though." He noticed that she was looking at him strangely and it took an extra second for him to realize that she didn't know who Frank was. "The security guard," he clarified. When he spoke about him though, the conversation they had in the lobby of the movie theater came flooding back. "You were there?" He remembered how the older man told him not to give up because even though the woman for him wasn't in the theater, didn't mean that she wasn't out there. It turns out though, that she was there.
And now, she was here with him.
"I was. I was a few rows behind you. I should thank you for that, I had more fun observing your shenanigans than watching the screen" Finn blushed as she giggled again. "The movie was a great deal more boring when you were escorted out."
"My friend was not happy that I got kicked out." He remembered how Quinn yelled at him for acting so childish and for not trying harder to like that movie. He had nightmares for a week because of it, he could only imagine how much worse they could have been if he had seen the whole thing. He suffered plenty; she didn't have to yell at him.
"Well I found it entertaining; as long as you don't get kicked out during Wicked we are going to get along just fine."
She was watching him with mock seriousness and Finn couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll behave, I promise."
"Good, then I guess I can trust you with phone number." He removed the phone from his pocket and handed it to her. He watched as she typed in her number and handed back his phone. When he reached out to take it back, their hands brushed and Finn felt it in his toes. It was the same feeling he had when he looked in her eyes the first time. It was the same feeling he had when their hands touched for the first time. This is the feeling he had been waiting for. The one that would let him know that his forever was right in front of him. He snapped himself from his personal revelation to look at the screen of the phone. She had used the icons to add a star after her name and Finn couldn't help the smile that formed. "Awesome. It was great meeting you Rachel. I'm sorry again for knocking you down." He stood, taking her empty cup and tossing it in the trash with his own.
"Don't worry about it. It all worked out and it was lovely meeting you too. I look forward to hearing from you." He handed back the yoga mat and bag he had carried for her and she smiled at him before turning to leave.
Finn placed his hands in his pockets as he made his way back to the gym to get his bag. Once he retrieved it, he used the walk home to think about the events of the day. It started out like any other. He left work early in the morning like he often did and somehow ended up meeting the most beautiful woman.
He couldn't help but think that she was it for him.
While they were talking and enjoying their smoothies, Finn had studied her intently; her lips, her eyes, her voice, and her laugh. Now that he was at home, he pulled his new blue iPod out of his pocket and rubbed it nervously as he wondered what it would be like to share a life with her. After only spending a short time with her, he couldn't be sure if things would work out for them in that way, but he couldn't wait to find out.
Finn pulled the phone from his pocket and began scrolling through his contacts to find her newly added name. They hadn't parted that long ago, but he was already feeling like maybe it was too long. His thumb hovered over the call button for only a moment before he tapped it lightly. He brought the phone to his ear, listening as it rang only three times.
"Hello?"
"Rachel, this is Finn. Finn Hudson. I know I'm supposed to wait three days or something, but I couldn't."
A/N- This chapter had some unique challenges in writing it. Even so, it was a lot of fun working so closely with Red to work it out. I now have a new respect for guys who are brave enough to ask out girls. It's nerve-racking. Reviews are always welcome!