Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
"Dude, I'm sorry. I swear, we'll only be like twenty minutes and then we can go to the game." Puck looked like he wanted to throw the wrapped present in his hand, but he held on to it. "I can't believe my mom forgot to bring her graduation present."
Finn shrugged his shoulders as he followed Puck into the house. He really didn't mind, as long as they got to the game. They had been getting ready to leave when Puck's mother had called and had asked him to bring the present she had forgotten to his cousin's high school graduation party (and then Puck had gotten scolded for trying to skip the party in the first place).
Ms. Puckerman greeted her son with a pointed look. "Thanks for coming to your cousin's graduation party, Noah," she said. "I'm sure that your uncles appreciate it very much. And thank you for bringing the present." She turned towards Finn and gave him a warm smile. She had always thought that Finn would be a good influence over Puck. "Hello, Finn. How are you?"
Finn chuckled when Puck made a face. "I'm doing great, Ms. Puckerman, thank you."
Puck rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," Puck grumbled. "So where is the little princess, anyway? I guess we should go say hi to her."
"She's over there with her friends," Ms. Puckerman said. "You need to stay for at least forty-five minutes."
"But Mom—"
"Stay."
Finn stifled his laughter when Puck cursed and then began to grumble about how they were going to be juniors at NYU; they were too old to be hanging out at some high school party. Still, Puck and Finn went over to where Ms. Puckerman directed.
Finn's eyes immediately landed on a pretty brunette with a bright smile and an infectious laugh. She turned towards them, her brown eyes connecting with Finn's and they widened slightly before her smile grew.
"Happy graduation, Rachel," Puck said as he shoved the present towards his cousin.
"Hello, Noah!" Rachel greeted. "Thanks for coming!"
"Yeah, whatever," Puck said as he looked over her head, searching the crowd of newly-graduated high school students. "Happy graduation. Is Quinn here?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. Puck always did have a thing for her friend Quinn. She supposed that now that they were going to be in college, Puck had decided to go after the blonde. "Quinn is getting something to eat. You can go harass her as soon as you tell me who your friend is."
"Oh." Puck waved a hand in Finn's direction as he began to walk away. "This is Finn Hudson. You can amuse yourself for a little bit, right Hudson?"
Puck always got like this when he was after a girl. "Sure, man," Finn said as he shook his head in amusement. "I got it."
"I'm sorry about that," Rachel said with a laugh. "Puck has been after Quinn for as long as I could remember, and I guess he's finally going after her now. How do you know my cousin, anyway?"
Finn blinked at her rapid-fire speech before he smiled. "We play basketball at NYU together," Finn said.
"NYU, really? What's your major?" Rachel asked in interest.
"Business with a minor in music."
"Music?" Rachel's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together in excitement. "Really? I love music! I actually plan on having a career on Broadway once I'm finished at NYADA. Do you plan an instrument? Do you sing? I sing, and I'm very good at it if I do say so myself."
Finn chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I play the drums and I sing sometimes, but not often enough to call myself one. I, uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "When I graduate, I actually want to open a music store. You know, one where there are music lessons and stuff."
Rachel looked up at him with wide, earnest eyes. "That sounds amazing," she said, her voice genuine.
Finn gave her a crooked smile that made Rachel's heart thump harder in her chest. "Thanks," he said. Even though he was going to be a junior at NYU, he had never actually revealed to anyone what he wanted to do once he was out of school. Rachel was the first person he had told, and it felt good to know that she had complete faith in his idea.
Finn and Rachel fell into easy conversation after that. Forty-five minutes later, Finn had completely forgotten about the game that he and Puck were supposed to go to.
If he got to spend more time with Rachel, Finn didn't really mind.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading!