Hey! So I'm back and playing around with a new story idea. :D I'd love to get your thoughts on this. I've loved reading everything on here, and just wanted to continue to create happy moments that remind us of how awesome Finn/Cory was. Let me know what you think so far.


Finn strolled into his office building bright and early on Monday morning. At just 25, he started his own digital ad consulting agency. It was always a dream of his while in school to do something on his own - especially something he was so passionate about. He was living the millennial dream - no one to report in to, running things on his own ideas and time, and felt like he was really part of something special serving a purpose. Most importantly, he built it from the ground up. He managed a small team of 5 other employees, and it felt more like hanging out with friends than working.

He walked through the double doors of his office space, passing the sign of 'New Directions Marketing' on the wall past the entrance. It always put a smile on his face, remembering the day he was finally able to put up the sign.

"Good morning Mr. Hudson" his bubbly assistant, Sugar, greeted him. He set his bag down at the desk next to her.

"Sugar, how many times do I have to tell you that you can just call me Finn? Mr. Hudson sounds like my father." Finn smiled at her.

She smiled back at him with a dreamy look on her face. "I'm sorry Mr. Hud- I mean Finn."

"That's much better. Did you have a good weekend?"

Finn sat down at the desk and took his laptop out of the bag as Sugar went on about the details of her weekend. She just started about a week ago and Finn was learning quickly just how loquacious his new assistant was. He never thought he needed an assistant, but with his growing business, he knew he needed someone to help keep his schedule together as he met with different investors and potential clients.

"I see you finally made it in Hudson." Sam, his right hand man, appeared from the kitchen area of the office, coffee in hand.

Finn chuckled. "Dude - I had a Skype call this morning with a company in London. I've been working, trust me."

"That's what I'm talkin' about! Always working. I hate to start your Monday morning like this...but we've got big problems man."

"What's up?" Finn looked at him. Sam was the worrier of the two. It took Finn awhile to realize (after much stress), things were never as bad as they seemed. He figured it's why the two worked so well together.

"It's Schuester."

Finn chuckled. Will Schuester was one of their first clients. He was an eccentric guy who just exudes personality. This also meant he was one of the more time-consuming clients.

"What's up with Schuester?"

"He isn't happy with the new ads."

Finn sighed. "What's wrong with it now? We've redone them like 3 times."

"He said something along the lines of we're not appealing to a female audience...it was hard to hear with how fast he was speaking."

"But he sells sports equipment...his demographic has been strictly male. He's never mentioned anything about appealing to a female audience." Finn said, dumbfoundedly.

"Well he's going to be here in.." Sam looked at his watch. "Ten minutes. I told him you'd meet him."

"Why am I always meeting with the clients? What am I paying you for?" Finn joked.

"I find you the talent. It's your job to keep them happy." Sam patted him on his back. Well, he couldn't argue there. "I'm off. Meeting with some potential clients at 10." Sam said, walking off. Sam was like his schmoozer - it was his job to reel in new clients and help build the business with new product ideas all the while scoping out the marketing landscape. Sam was always a charmer, and Finn knew he couldn't have found a better person to have on his team.

"Artie." Finn called out to his employee, who worked a few desks away. "Can you pull up Schuester's account for me and the last few projects he's had us work on, plus the stats for each."

"You got it, boss."

"Thanks dude."

Finn's created a pretty comfortable work environment. He's always been a good people person, and hated the idea of any type of hierarchy. He had open space desk seating, there were no offices, except for meeting rooms. He sat at a desk with the rest of his employees, and it sometimes felt like just a hangout with friends rather than work. It also helped that their break room had a ping pong table, foosball table, and all of the drinks and snacks a person could ever ask for.

But, he was always working. He promoted the idea of a good work/life balance but it definitely was not easy being 25 and running a successful business. He didn't just have to keep his clients happy, he had a team to take care of.

Sam was his Client Services Director, Artie managed all the accounts, Mike and Puck were his creative team - they designed basically everything needed, and Sugar was his assistant, and well, the office assistant really. The biggest challenge Finn had was dealing with a team that was growing so quickly. He was signing new clients all the time, and it was getting much more than he could handle. Not to mention the daily emails from larger companies trying to buy him out. He refused to fall in that trap - he didn't want to work for anyone else.

"Finn - Will is here. I put him in the Journey room. " Sugar told him. Finn was a sucker for rock groups, and labeled all of the meeting rooms after his favorite groups. Each room was pretty much decorated with band memorabilia.

"Thanks Sugar." Finn grabbed the reports from Artie and headed over to the meeting room.


"Will!" Finn smiled, greeting the man who was staring at one of the photos on the wall.

"Finn! Bonjour!" Will turned towards him and walked over, pulling Finn in for a hug and planting a kiss on both of his cheeks.

Finn tensed up slightly. "Uh...Bonjour?"

"Oh Finn, I just returned from France with the wife and let me just say - you have to go! Have you ever been? Ugh, magnificent!"

Finn chuckled. Well that explains the kisses. "Nah, I've never been. One day though. So can I get you anything before we get started?"

"I just asked your cute little assistant, I think her name was like Cookie or something, to get me a coffee." Will sat down in the chair.

"You mean Sugar? Awesome, she'll bring that in for you any second now. So what brings you in today? I see the latest ads are running pretty well."

"That's why I'm here! We've got to think bigger. Coming back from France, I just feel like so many things are coming together. The way they do business there is so different - and I like it! I want to expand my store globally. I need to change my approach on everything. The website, Instagram, Twitter, everything! I need a mobile app. I don't know what it is, but everyone has one! So I definitely need one." Sugar walked in, placing the coffee for Will next to him.

"Thank you Sugar, you're so sweet like a little macaron." Will smiled at her as Sugar giggled. Finn had to suppress a sigh and a major eye roll. Will watched as she walked out. "She is seriously the cutest little thing. Where did you find her?!"

Finn shook his head and ignored the question. "It sounds like you're looking to rebrand your business, Will. We can definitely help you with this but we'll definitely need to come up with a larger plan. I think there's a lot of content we've produced recently that we can still use as good marketing. Puck and Mike came up with some great stuff..." Finn was cut off by Will shaking his head.

"I did a focus group Finn. Every female in the group reacted negatively to the ads. It's not reaching them. How can I gain any type of a female following if they don't even believe my company is inclusive of their feelings? These ads just feel too cool. Too manly. Too...out of touch with women. I'm serious about the rebranding. But, if you want to stay on as the group to do that, I'm going to need you to adapt to these changes. I need to broaden my reach Finn. I need a female audience!"

"You know we can deliver you top quality work. We'll redo these ads to your liking. I'll stop by your office in the next few days to meet with your team. We'll come up with just what you're looking for. Have I ever failed you?"

Will sighed. "Fine. But I need to see changes and I need to see them fast." He finished his coffee and stood up. "I've gotta run. Let's do lunch soon."

Finn nodded. "I'll walk you out."


"So...he wants you to create a brand that appeals to specifically females?" Sam said in their team meeting.

"Yeah..." Finn was lost in his thoughts. "And it's not like we haven't worked with female companies before...we can totally do this?"

"According to our projects last year...they weren't gender specific." Artie spoke up. "We've worked with female clients, but honestly...I can't recall one female product or marketing strategy we devised specific to that audience. I hate to point out the obvious but...we're also just like...a team of men."

Finn looked around at his team. Outside of Sugar, Artie was right. He had an all male team. "I really didn't think about that..." He thought back to Will's words about broadening his reach. Shouldn't he be doing the same? How were they going to survive as a small start up without a broad audience?

"It wouldn't hurt to have more females around here." Puck smirked.

"Puck's right, Finn. If we want to grow, we're going to need to gain larger ground with the work we do." Sam said.

Finn nodded, as the conversation continued around him. He had to grow his team, it was actually a pretty exciting thing! He would totally have someone on board in no time.


"Why the fuck is it so hard to find a good hire!" Finn groaned, hitting his head on the desk in front of him, as yet another failed candidate walked out the door.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Mr. Hudson! Lots of resumes have been coming in, you're bound to find the needle in the haystack!"

He groaned again, head still planted on desk. "It's Finn...just call me Finn."

Puck and Mike walked over to Finn's desk.

"The fuck is up with you Hudson?" Puck said amusingly.

"I'm losing my patience." He lifted his head off his desk, looking up at the two guys. "We've interviewed like, 20 people, and not one so far has made it past the second round. What the hell are we doing wrong?"

Mike shrugged. "It's not us man. It's them! No one has the type of vibe we're looking for. I mean, this girl is going to work with Puck and myself, and no one's really given us a great impression."

Puck nodded. "We've seen some real cute ones though...we should have moved that that one blonde girl to the next round...real ditzy but did you see the rack on her?"

Sugar rolled her eyes. She's gotten use to Puck's crudeness, but it didn't make it any less inappropriate.

"And this is why you don't make the final decision." Finn shook his head. "Please tell me you don't talk to our clients like that."

"He's not allowed to talk to the clients." Mike laughed as Puck rolled his eyes.

"You make one mistake, and you're fucking exiled from the outside world."

"You slept with our client!" Mike exclaimed.

"Like I said...one mistake. She still won't stop calling me." Puck shook his head, looking at his phone, no longer interested in being ridiculed.

"Yeah, she's also no longer a client." Artie chimed in from his desk a few feet away.

"So what's the plan then Finn? Schuester's on our ass about all of these revisions not being 'feminine' enough. We've done some research but whatever he's looking for...we just don't have." Mike sighed.

"The fuck do I know about being 'feminine'?" Puck said, still scrolling through his phone.

"I have an idea!" Sugar exclaimed out of nowhere, scaring the guys just a little bit.

"What's that Sugar?" Finn asked.

"Well - how did you find these guys? You should use that strategy." Sugar suggested.

"Honestly? They're all my best friends. I met Artie and Mike in elementary school, Puck in high school, and Sam in college. When I came up with the idea for the company, these were the guys that helped me build the foundation. Couldn't have done it without them." Finn looked around at the guys, and turned to Sugar, giving her his famous half-smile. He was definitely proud of how much they've accomplished in a short period of time.

"So...you just hired your friends?" The way she was looking at him Finn couldn't tell if she thought he was just a dumb ass.

"Well...yeah." He shrugged. "Who can you trust with your business more than your own friends? I don't regret it. Well, I regret Puck sleeping with Mrs. Johnson...that's for sure."

Puck rolled his eyes. "You guys have to get over this."

"Well if you hired your friends...maybe your friends have a friend that you can hire. Or...OH! I have lots of girlfriends! Maybe I should see if any of them needs a job?"

"Well...don't forget that they can't just be female...they need to have actual skills...and aren't you a little young? I'm looking for someone with a bit more experience..."

"I'm 21, Finn! I have lots of sorority sisters who are older...I can post the job through our alumni network!"

Puck nodded and extended his hand to hers for a high five. "That's a great fucking idea, Sugar. I'm so glad you're on this team. Always using your brain!"

Mike and Artie chuckled as Finn sighed. What did he really have to lose?


At 6 pm, the office started to clear out as it was Friday and the end of the work week. Sam walked in front of Finn's desk and closed his laptop shut.

"Dude, what the fuck!"

"It's Friday, Finn. You've been working non-stop all week and it's time to let loose. I swear you can do some work over the weekend, but we're going out tonight."

Finn looked at the time. How the hell was it already the end of the day?!

"I've gotta pass tonight man, there's just so much shit to do."

"There's always some shit to do, man. But all work and no play makes Finn suck. Let's just have some fun tonight! Go to the club, meet some ladies...when's the last time you got laid?"

Finn laughed, but didn't respond to his question. It's been way too long.

"Fine...what's the plan?" Finn gave in. He knew he didn't have a choice anyway.


Rachel Berry was a determined woman who was used to having control over her situation. She's been with her PR firm for just over 9 years. Ever since she left college, she found employment within one month of graduating and has been at the company ever since. She dedicated her life to her work, and by her mid 20s was already in a senior level position. So when her boss called her into his office for her annual review, it came as quite the shock she was being let go instead of promoted. In a daze, she remembered vaguely her boss saying the words "buy out" and the "need to downsize" because of the "takeover". She received a great severance package but she was freaking out. What the hell was she going to do now? Surely with her skills, she'd be a catch!

She updated her resume, cover letter and her LinkedIn profile. Rachel Berry would be employed before the end of the week. She just knew it.

Two months later...she was still unemployed.

"Quinn I really do not want to go out tonight." Rachel whined to her best friend.

"Rach, you've been in this funk for nearly two months! You can't stay home and wallow forever" Quinn said, looking through Rachel's closet for something for the brunette to wear.

"I'm not wallowing! I'm job searching. I'm unemployed...remember?" Rachel closed her eyes as she continued to lay on her bed.

"Unemployed and single? Sounds like you've got another job opportunity you can look into." Quinn smirked at her.

"Quinn! I am not a prostitute!"

"But you can be." Quinn laughed. She found a cute skirt and blouse in Rachel's closet and laid it on Rachel's bed.

"Wear this tonight and I promise we won't have to pay for a thing."

"So we're basically prostitutes who accept payment in drinks?"

"You're so missing the point on this! Let's live a little! Have some fun. Come on, what do you say?"

Rachel sighed. "Fine...where are we going?" She knew she didn't have a choice anyway.


Rachel took her time getting ready. It's been awhile since she even bothered going on a date, much to the dismay of her dad's. They kept reminding her about her decaying eggs and she wasn't getting any younger. Her last job just didn't allow her to date. She worked all the time on a quest to reach the top.

"Rach! I just sent you an email. I think you might be interested in this. One of my sorority sisters just posted about an opening at her job. New Directions Marketing. They're looking for a Creative Director. This is totally you, Rach."

"Probably just another dead end. Plus, my background is in PR Quinn. What do I even know about marketing?" Rachel sighed as she continued putting on her make up.

"Since when were you such a negative nancy? Isn't PR basically pitching stories about your clients to news sources? It's basically the same thing! I can ask this sister to put in a good word for you." Quinn called out.

"Fine, it's worth a shot. I'll apply over the weekend." Rachel responded, mostly to appease Quinn. She had to appreciate her best friend looking out for her, even if she had no idea what the hell Rachel actually did for a living.

Rachel gave herself one more look in the mirror. Who cares if she didn't have a job? She looked damn good.

Grabbing a matching purse from her closet, she walked out to Quinn in the living room. "Alright! I'm ready to be a prostitute."

Quinn laughed. "Free drinks Rachel!" She got up off the couch after putting on her heels. "We my dear look hot. Let's do this."

Finn, Puck and Sam walked into a bar on the other end of town that they haven't been to before. It was one of the more upscale places in Malibu where it was nearly impossible for guys to get in without waving a wad of cash in front of the bouncer's face. Luckily for the guys, Sam was pretty connected to the nightlife scene and had no issues getting the guys in for free and without waiting on a line.

"It's like a different species of women here..." Puck looked around in awe. Not the most classiest dude, but he was fine with the girls that frequented his local bars. They didn't ask for much. A few drinks here, a little flirting there, and they were back to his place in no time. Every girl here looked so...high maintenance.

"Yeah - the girls here are unbelievable. It's like they just walked out of a Sports Illustrated magazine." Sam grinned, walking over to the bar.

Finn shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, can't argue there..." He caught eyes with a few girls that walked by, smirking to himself as they all seemed to blush and look away. Oh yeah, he's totally getting laid tonight.


Rachel pushed her way through the crowd to get to the bar, with Quinn following closely behind her. There was no way she was just going to stand around and wait for someone to buy her a drink like Quinn suggested. Unemployed or not, she could buy herself a drink.

"Excuse me..." she tried to move past a group of 3 guys, the particularly tall one in her way.

"Well hello there..." she heard someone say in their direction.

Quinn quickly answered. "Hey yourself. What's a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?" she smiled sweetly at the blonde standing to the side of her.

Sam grinned at the blonde beauty standing next to him. Her little friend looked quite annoyed, but he couldn't be too bothered by that at the moment.

"I can help you out with that. What are you ladies drinking?"

"We'll just have two Vodka and Pineapples, cutie." Quinn flirted.

Once Sam turned away towards the bar, Rachel leaned in to Quinn. "These boys are like 21, Quinn!"

Finn turned towards the girls and smiled at them. "Hey, I'm Finn. I see you've already met Sam. This is Puck..."

Rachel smiled politely at them as Quinn quickly answered. "I'm Quinn, and this is Rachel."

Rachel internally sighed. There was no way she was going to drink with a bunch of 21 year olds and here was Quinn being her charming self, making conversation with them. How the heck was she going to get her to stop talking!

"Puck? Is that your real name?" Quinn smirked at him.

"Wanna find out?"

Before she responded, Sam walked back with their drinks. "Here you go ladies. Two vodka pineapples! I'm Sam, by the way."

Quinn introduced her and Rachel again, all the while thanking Sam for the drink.

"Are you guys even old enough to drink?" Rachel said, eyes widening a little, as she didn't really mean to say it out loud.

The guys looked at each other and laughed. "Uh, we're 25. We've been allowed to drink for years now, legally anyway." Puck said proudly.

"Don't mind her...she's had a long day." Quinn smiled. "I've never seen you guys here before."

"I've been here a few times, and I don't think I've ever seen a girl as pretty as you. You must be a model or something." Sam smiled at her as Quinn blushed. Rachel rolled her eyes.

Finn caught Rachel's eye roll and gave her an amused look. Quinn and Sam became quickly engaged in conversation, leaving Rachel with Finn and Puck.

"What?" she said, looking up at him.

"You don't look so happy to be here." Finn said. "This not your scene?"

Rachel shook her head. "Honestly? No." She laughed a little. "Quinn loves to go out, I'm just a little over it."

"You sound like a 90 year old woman." Puck laughed.

"Hey there's nothing wrong with wanting to just stay home and read a good book or cuddle up with my cats or something." Rachel defended herself. Finn laughed a little.

"I mean that's usually how I spend my Friday nights." The amusement in his eyes shined brightly.

"If you're going to make fun of me, I'm just going to walk away." she teased him.

"And leave your friend with some random guys she just met? You don't look like the type to just abandon someone."

"Oh? and what do I look like, Finn, was it?"

Puck glanced between the two. Their weird flirting was enough for him to know it was time for him to find his own piece of action for the night.

"Well let's see." Finn put his free hand on his chin as he studied her face and then ran his eyes down her body, analyzing her, not even noticing Puck walking away. "You look like the type of girl who appreciates perfection. You like being in control, and any situation where you're not, is highly uncomfortable and irritating. Like now." He grins at her.

Rachel kept on her poker face as she looked at him. "Hmm, have you ever heard you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover?"

He laughed. "It's kind of my job to do that, actually."

Wanting to steer away from the topic of work (who actually wants to admit their full time job right now involves sitting on her couch watching daytime television?), she quickly changed the subject. They fell into a comfortable conversation, getting more drinks as the night went on.

"So 25 huh? You're a baby."

Finn scrunched up his face before replying. "And just how old are you Rachel?"

"Way to old for you." She smiled.

"What, like 40?"

"God no! Oh my goodness, do I look 40?" she responded in horror.

Finn laughed. "No, I was just kidding. You can't be that old."

"I'm 31."

"See? Nothing wrong with that. Just 6 years...that's like nothing. You definitely don't look a day older than 21."

Rachel laughed. "Well aren't you also just a charmer? 6 years is 6 to many...I don't think I've ever been with or even kissed a younger guy before."

Finn smiled, leaning down a little to close the space in between them. "Well, well. Seems like the quite bucket list you've got here. I hate to state the obvious...but I can definitely help you out there. It's your lucky day."

The closeness between them made her heart beat just a little faster. She laughed a little to recover. "You seem awfully sure of yourself, Finn."

"Hey - you don't know what you're missing. I've never been with an older woman, either. How can I really go through life not knowing what that's like?" He smiled, turned on by the idea of how much she seemed to be against even giving him a try.

She laughed a little louder this time and found herself leaning into him. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, or if this super tall and super attractive 25 year old was as charming and funny as he seemed. It had to be the alcohol...but wow did he smell good.

He smiled down at her, resting one hand on her waist.

"I don't know what kind of woman you take me for Finn, but this...me and you...is definitely not going to happen. You're a baby."

"You keep saying that." He snaked both arms around her waist at this point. "But I think you like it."

She bit her lip as his head seemed to get closer and closer to hers. She couldn't think of anything she wanted more at the moment. "Dude - " Sam walked over with Quinn, stopping as he realized he caught Finn and Rachel right before their kiss. "Whoops, sorry man."

Rachel blushed slightly, and moved away from Finn. She looked at the time. "It's 2 am already...we should really get going Quinn!"

Quinn nodded. "Sam's going to give me a ride home but he can drop you off as well...unless of course, you have another way to get home..."

Rachel shook her head quickly. "No! I have to head home...do you mind?" She glanced at Sam.

He shook his head. "Of course not. I'm gonna go get the car. I'll meet you guys at the front." He pressed a kiss to Quinn's cheek and walked off.

Rachel turned towards Finn. "Nice meeting you Finn...I've gotta go." She barely gave him a chance to respond before turning around to walk off.

She felt a hand grab her wrist gently. She turned around as she was swept up in Finn's arms. He placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips that seemed to last for minutes but was only mere seconds.

Rachel pulled away after a few moments and glanced up at his smiling face. "You can cross that off your bucket list. The pleasure was all mine, Rachel. See you around." He let her go, as she quickly walked off with Quinn.

He watched her walk off, not sure where he got the balls from to just kiss her. She didn't slap him, so she wasn't mad right? Just before Rachel hit the exit, she turned back towards him, and smiled. The smile on his face grew. She was definitely not mad.


The next few weeks seemed to fly by as Finn immersed himself in work. He was only half listening to Sam as he bragged about his latest girl. "Hey man, whatever happened to that girl you met that day at the bar?" Finn asked Sam, cutting him off from his story.

"Huh? Which one?" Sam thought back.

"The one from Malibu. Quinn?"

"Oh! Oh yeah Quinn! Nothing really man. She was hot. We hung out that night, told her I'd be in touch but haven't really had the time you know?"

Finn nodded a little. He realized later not soon after he kissed Quinn's friend that night that he didn't even get her phone number. Any chance he had to see Rachel again really depended on Sam. He made a mental note to himself to convince Sam to reach out to Quinn later.

"Finn, the next candidate is here. She's in the Bon Jovi room." Sugar reminded him.

"Thanks. Let's hope this is a good one." He stretched as he got up from his chair.

"Oh it is! She's one of my recommendations. I think you're going to love her." Sugar smiled at him.

Finn nodded, automatically thinking this was going to be a bust. It's not that he didn't have faith in Sugar's recommendations, but well...it's Sugar.

He could see the slight silhouette of a woman looking at the photos on the wall. He grabbed himself a glass of water before heading into the room.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Finn." He smiled as the girl turned around.

"Finn?!"

Holy shit. Guess he wouldn't need Sam to make that call to Quinn after all.