Chapter Two: The Boy in the Denim Shirt

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of these characters they all belong to Fox and the very lucky Ryan Murphy.

Author's Note: Please enjoy and review it's the equivalent to free hugs!

There were several things Finn Hudson knew for certain. Number one was that he was determined that the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to win this season of the NBA otherwise he owed Puck serious money. Number Two was that Puck was going to screw his way through New York City within the first few months of them arriving. The final thing that Finn Hudson knew for certain was that all women were just out to hurt him. He knew that for sure and from experience. From now on girls didn't matter; he was never getting involved in anything serious ever again.

Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman arrived in New York City early on the Monday morning. They unpacked the lorry they had paid for with help from the truck driver; despite Puck's ego protests. Finn was carrying the final box of stuff up the stairs when the door opposite their new apartment flung open and a very beautiful but very annoyed looking woman appeared wearing a thin, pink nightdress and matching robe.

"Oh." She said slightly in shock, adjusting her robe and patting down her hair consciously.

"Sorry." Finn replied smiling at her slowly, he figured it was best to be friendly to their new neighbours before they met Puck. She grinned back at him, her cold eyes warming slightly.

"It's okay; I was just wondering who was moving in."

"Right; I'm Finn, Finn Hudson. My buddie and I are the ones making all the noise." He said stretching his hand out to meet the blonde lady's in a firm shake.

Just at the moment the door opposite them swung open and standing there grinning was a tanned, muscular man with a Mohican.

"Hell – o" He winked at Quinn whose stern look soon returned as she evaluated the man standing in front of her and looking so intently at her chest she feared he had x-ray vision.

"This is Noah Puckerman." Finn said handing Puck the box he was carrying and telling him not to scare their new neighbour.

"Dude, its Puck." The man mumbled before taking the box inside their own apartment, leaving Quinn and Finn in the hallway.

"I'm Quinn Fabray." She smiled, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears desperate to look presentable for the good looking man in front of her. Why did she have to meet him now? Why not as she headed out for work with all her make up done and her smart suit on? But this was an opportunity; she understood that and planned to use the best of her charm.

"It's nice to meet you Quinn." The dark eyed man smiled.

At that moment a door in Quinn's apartment opened and a dark haired lady walked out wearing a summer dress the colour of lemon meringue and heels the colour of cream. Finn loved lemon meringue and cream.

"I'm sorry." She murmured trying to slip past Quinn and avoid the eye contact that Finn was desperately searching for.

""Rachel! This is our new neighbour Finn, him and his friend Noah have moved in opposite us." Quinn grinned very broadly at Finn when she said this like she was congratulating him for picking this block of apartments to move to and if he was honest it kind of scared him.

He looked down at the tiny girl, her hair was set in dark curls and her legs no matter how short she was seemed to go on for miles. Her dark eyes looked at him as she gave him a tired but polite smile, the type of smile you give your new neighbour. Suddenly Finn didn't want that type of smile he wanted a quiet beam or a delighted giggle something you give to someone because they understand the smiles you have. He wanted one from her that was only his. And for some strange reason he couldn't understand why. For a moment he didn't know what to say, she was beautiful, breath taking; with her dark hair and warm eyes and sunlight coloured dress.

"Finn Hudson." He said handing her over a smiled tailored with the curiosity he had for her.

"Rachel Berry. Pleased to meet you" She replied, something in her face changed as she looked at him and listened to his voice blocking out whatever Quinn was babbling on about. As they shook hands the feel of her fingers touching his was like an electric shock to the heart. He stared at her intently wishing he could read minds and understand or know what she was thinking, what she was like, everything.

Suddenly Rachel's hand pulled away and a carefully painted nail was being pointed at him in annoyance as her voice became shrilled and agitated. Actually no I'm not! You woke me up!" She pointed at him accusingly. Finn frowned slightly for a moment, how was that his fault? They were moving in, they were bound to make some noise.

"What?" He asked, unsure what else to say, this chick was like a pit bull, tiny but ferocious.

"You woke me up!" The tiny dark haired girl repeated. "Yes, moving in this morning, being all loud and rude about women!" Okay so she'd been listening in on his and Puck's conversation, creepy and weird. Great, the hot girl was a total psycho with a high pitched voice and tiny fingers that she liked to prod his chest with even though they had just met. This was great; of course it would only ever happen to him. Shit like this never happened to Puck. He smiled at her politely hoping that might calm her down, he liked to think of his smile like his lethal weapon women tended to like the dimples and freckles he had and sort of stopped talking when he grinned like that. Rachel wasn't one of those women; she just looked extremely annoyed and ready to do some sort of Diva storm off.

"Aren't you off out Rachel?" Quinn saved him, the look she gave Rachel seemed to calm the brunette down who smoothed out her dress and nodded.

"Yeah I am. Thanks for waking me up Finn Hudson." She flashed Finn a sarcastic smile which made him laugh slightly out of how obviously petty this girl was, how old were they twelve?

"Nice to meet you Rachel Berry." Finn called after her raising his hand to wave off his new found best friend, for that he received one last glare from Rachel as her heels slammed against the wood of the hallway.

That left Finn with Quinn, he was just about to excuse himself and explain how he should help Puck unpack but the blonde cleared her throat and started on her own persistent task of asking Finn as many questions as possible in a short space of time.

These questions went like this:

"What do you do?"

"I'm an assistant to a Sports Agent."

"Where did you live before?"

"Ohio."

"Why did you leave?"

"I needed a change and for work."

"What do your parents do?"

"My father past away and my Mom's a Nurse."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Excellent!" She grinned; Finn obviously had passed the first test without realising that was what he was doing. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Uhmm, not much." He mumbled.

"Would like to go out?"

"Okay." He agreed unsure of whether this was a good idea.

"Brilliant, you can pick me up at seven." Quinn smiled at him delightedly, waved and promptly shut the door leaving a shocked and slightly dumbstruck Finn standing still in the hallway.

Pick her up he wondered, he lived directly opposite her, did that count as picking her up? And where the hell were they going to go? Finn imagined that Quinn would take him to a very expensive restaurant; where he couldn't afford the food and barely understand the menu. He sighed, his only "dating easy women" rule had already failed him and he didn't even understand how.

Rachel sipped her glass of water and tucked into her salad as she listened to her best friend chat incessantly about a girl she liked. "Speaking of crushes; is there anyone for you Miss Berry?" Santana asked raising her eyebrow suggestively.

"Actually I have a date tonight but I'm feeling kind of tired, I'm not sure I'll go." Rachel said as she faked a yawn and a rub of the eyes.

"You have to! Come on, you always do this! What if he's a great guy or the one for you! I mean what if you miss your future husband because you'd rather sit at home and watch Dexter?" Santana demanded. Rachel always did this; it was like she didn't want to fall in love.

"Santana none of that stuff is real, you know that. It's the stories we tell children so that they can believe in fairy tales."

"Who's the guy?" Santana asked.

"This boy from my dance class, Nathan." Nathan was a tall man with jet black hair and a scrawny body, he had warm eyes and a kind heart, his green orbs always sparkled deliciously whenever they danced together.

"Cute." Said the dark haired woman next to her, knowing not to push the whole "love" conversation with Rachel, she had her reasons to be cynical but it was time she got over that episode in her life and moved on. After all she never knew what could be right around the corner. Santana knew that love was real, she knew every time she met a beautiful woman. Love was like a beacon of hope or a rainstorm after months of drought and baron land and thirsted animals. It was like flying and everyone knew that flying was the best super power to have. Rachel just needed that light in her life again, that soaring feeling. Santana knew that Rachel's true love was out there; he could be at the Grocery store right now or at a Basketball game or driving home from work. Or even unpacking the few final boxes of his life into the tiny apartment he had rented with his best friend.