Yikes - two months with no update? I had a bit of a writer's block with this story. I hope I still have some readers? :) Anyway, I do hope you enjoy...would love to get your thoughts!


Finn stirred in his sleep, feeling the sun shining on his face through the blinds from the window. It took him awhile to fall asleep last night. He was beyond stressed with Sue Sylvester trying to run him out of business and the only thing that made him feel somewhat better was Rachel. Not that he actually told her what was going on, but just her mere presence seemed to make him think about something else for awhile instead of the issues at hand. They stood awake to watch The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, but Rachel was fast asleep before his monologue even ended. Finn, on the other hand, was up until even after the Late, Late show territory. His mind was full with the earlier events of the day, and it was extremely hard for him to find any type of peace to sleep. Even with Rachel lightly snoring next to him. He made a mental note to tease her about that later.

But, something seemed off. Even with his eyes closed, it seemed brighter than it should be. Shit. What time was it?

Finn shot up from the bed and it took him a moment to realize that he was at Rachel's. Did he set an alarm? He couldn't even remember. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand to the right of him and saw it was 10:00 am. He was beyond late for work at this point. Why the heck didn't Rachel wake him?

He didn't need to wonder that much longer, as Rachel strolled into the room, still dressed in her pajamas. "Good Morning Sunshine!" She smiled at him, walking over to the bed, holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Babe, do you know it's 10 am? We're late for work!" He said, running his hand through his hair, searching around the room for his clothes, currently clad in just his boxer briefs.

"No we're not." She shrugged, resting her coffee down on the table, walking over to him, "I texted Sugar that you won't be in today. You, mister, are taking a sick day." She leaned up and pressed a kiss on a very confused Finn.

"What? But...why?" He had so much to do today, like figuring out what do about Sue Sylvester.

"I'm taking one too. We're playing hookie for the day." She smiled, clapping her hands together, clearly very pleased with herself and this idea.

"Okay...who are you, and what have you done to Rachel Berry?" He raised his eyebrow. He couldn't remember the last time he actually took a sick day. Probably never.

Rachel laughed. "What? You don't like the adventurous and spontaneous Rachel?" She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down for another kiss.

"That's my favorite Rachel. " He smirked for a second before snapping out of it. "But seriously babe, I have so much work to do and..." He began to speak but Rachel cut him off with another kiss.

"We all have so much work to do! Work is never ending. But, you seem so stressed out lately. I tried to wake you up this morning but you nearly knocked me off the bed pushing me away." She raised her eyebrow at him as he gave her a small, slightly embarrassed smile. "So, I think it's in both of our interest to use a mental health day. I have a whole day for us planned."

Finn nodded and let out a small sigh. Fine. He'd take one day off. If she went to this much trouble to plan something, then why not? He didn't need to physically be at work to do his work anyway. That's why phones, the internet, and wifi were invented in the first place, right? "So...planned spontaneity." He smiled, amused that even her adventurous side still had structure.

"Uh huh...you love it." She smiled, leaning up and kissing him once more, letting her lips linger against his.

"Mmm...I definitely do." Finn hoisted her up, so her legs wrapped around his waist, deepening the kiss. She giggled as he moved her back to her bed. Before her plans started, he had a few little plans of his own for her.


"Where the hell is Finn?" Sam said, speed walking into the office. His eyes landed on Finn's desk, no Finn in sight. He pursed his lips together and let out a deep breath through his nose.

Artie shrugged. "I heard he's sick today."

Kurt nodded and chimed in from his desk, barely looking up from the laptop in front of him. "Apparently Mr. Do-It-All can't...do it at all." Puck snickered at his lame joke, which put a smile on Kurt's face.

Sam made a face, clearly not amused, and walked towards Sugar's desk. "Where is Finn?"

"What's going on man?" Puck asked, finally turning his attention towards Sam's huffing and puffing.

Sugar also turned towards him, removing her headphones from her head. "Yes?"

"Where. Is. Finn." Sam repeated himself.

"He's not here." Sugar told him.

"Obviously he's not here, Sugar. Where is he?" He responded with agitation.

"He's sick! I've been told to not bother him under any circumstance." Sugar repeated the words told to her earlier that morning.

"Is this a fucking joke? We had an extremely important meeting this morning with an executive from Nike. They specifically asked for him to be there. I texted him this morning to remind him!" Sam said.

"Well, he's not working today, Sam. If you want me to take a message, I'll be happy to pass it along to him tomorrow." Sugar told him. While she was technically the assistant for the office, she prided herself on being mainly Finn's personal assistant.

Sam rolled his eyes and sighed. "This is fucking ridiculous..."

"What happened with Nike man?" Mike said. Sam had the attention of everyone at the office - all disrupted by his outburst.

"Well - considering I had two potential clients cancel meetings today - saying they've decided to go in a different direction, aka Sue Sylvester, I somehow convinced Jen, the rep I meant with from Nike, to give us a chance. She thought it was "disrespectful" that the fucking CEO didn't think she or the meeting was important enough that he attend, when she met with Sue herself the day before. I convinced her to give us a chance to put together a few samples for her to look at...and she gave us 48 hours."

"48 hours?!" Puck yelled out, spitting out his coffee.

"How the hell are we supposed to pull that off?" Puck looked at Mike. "We're still working on Schuester's designs and we have deadlines for other projects. There's no way we can pull that off."

Mike nodded in agreement. "We'd literally need to be here all night for the next two nights...It takes a few hours just to put together one sample...I don't even know what they want..."

"Well it was all I was able to get! And fucking Finn decides to take a vacation?! We just lost 24 hours!"

"He's sick." Sugar butted in, correcting Sam, who ignored her.

Kurt sighed. "I'll call him. Maybe he'll answer me." It certainly wasn't in Finn's character to miss work, so maybe he really was under the weather. He'd hate to bother him but it seems, based on Sam's tone, that this was a serious problem.

Everyone turned towards Kurt and stared expectantly.

"Oh you want me to call now?" Kurt nodded, catching on. "I'm on it..."

He picked up his phone and clicked on Finn's name and waited for the phone to connect.

"Voicemail." Kurt said, addressing the group. "Look, maybe he really is sick...can't we try to figure this out without him? I'm sure he'll get back to us in no time, but, this is our company too. We all work here. We can make some decisions, too."

Artie nodded a little. "You're totally right...we can totally do this."

Sam sighed and looked at his phone, hoping Finn by some miracle, responded to him. Nothing.


Finn was feeling quite relaxed. They started the day off with a couples massage at one of Rachel's favorite spa, and she even convinced him to get a manicure and a pedicure, which he would totally deny if any of the guys asked what he did today. It was kind of cool seeing how soft his feet were after, but again, he would totally deny if ever asked.

They were now currently having lunch at one of their favorite spots they usually frequented on the weekend. Rachel confiscated his phone before he left the house and it felt great not being tied down to the messages. His heart raced a little thinking about the number of messages that might actually be waiting for him, but he pushed those feelings aside just for a moment. He argued with Rachel at first, promising he wouldn't even pay attention to it, but there was no getting around it.

"This is definitely what a housewife feels like. You know, like the ones you watch on that show?" Finn told her, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Housewives of Beverly Hills?" Rachel asked, laughing at him.

"Yeah! They just wake up, go to the spa, eat good food, probably go shopping and then end their day with another massage." Finn said.

"I'm sure there's more to it than that. How else would we get to see all their drama?" Rachel said.

"From the writers?" Finn said, raising his eyebrow, knowing it would raise a reaction out of her.

"I've told you so many times! It's not scripted!" she said.

Finn laughed. "Yeah babe, sure. Whatever you say." He gave her a wink and smile, before taking another bite of his food.

Rachel shook her head. "Anyway, baby. I've been meaning to ask you something..." she said.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Well..." she started, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. "My dads are in town tomorrow for business. They wanted to grab dinner with me tomorrow night before they head back home."

"Uh huh..."

"So, I was thinking...will you come to dinner with me? I'd really love for them to meet you...considering we're...you know, together." she said.

Finn chuckled a bit at how she appeared so nervous. "Of course, babe. I finally get to meet the infamous Berry's." He smiled, reaching across the table to take her hand in his. "Did you think I'd say no?"

"Well, no. It's just that my dads are a bit...tough to please. They've wanted me to have a boyfriend for so long, but they're just so judgmental whenever I even mention a boy. Given it's been so long since I've actually had a boyfriend, and I was so much younger then so maybe things might be different now." She blabbered on.

"Hey, parents love me, ok?" Finn smiled. "I'll make sure your dad's love me too."

Rachel smiled at him. "I know you will. This really means so much to me, Finn."

Finn gave her a small smile and rubbed his thumb gently against her hand. He'd do everything possible to make a good impression if it meant making her happy.


Finn arrived to work the next day earlier than normal to get a head start on things. When he finally got his phone back from Rachel, he nearly had a mental breakdown from the amount of messages waiting for him.

He was surprised when he saw Puck and Mike already at their desks - half asleep and looking like they never left the office.

"Look who decided to show up today." Sam smirked when Finn walked into the office. "Is the baby feeling all better?"

"Haha, very funny." Finn said, setting his bag down on his desk, turning towards Sam standing with a cup of coffee in his hand, also looking like...well, shit.

"I had no choice yesterday, okay? There was just a lot going on and I just needed a break." Finn said.

"Needed a break?" Sam said, incredulously.

"Look, I'm sorry I missed the meeting with Nike, but I'm sure you handled it well. You've been doing this forever. What did they say?" Finn asked.

"Of course I handled it. That's what I do." Sam told him. "But you seem to be forgetting that we're the target of the largest fucking marketing firm in the city!" Sam yelled out, causing Mike and Puck to jump up from their desk.

"Do you realize that I had 3 potential clients cancel meetings with me yesterday? Nike almost fuckin' walked out on me, too!" Sam said.

"What the fuck?" Finn said, beginning to freak out a little bit.

"Who cancelled? Give me a name and a number, I'll call them and straighten everything out. They'll at least give us a meeting. Dude why didn't you...gee, I don't know...contact Rachel or something to get a hold of me yesterday!? This is ridiculously important!" Finn said.

Sam rolled his eyes. "You were off 'sick'! How the hell was I supposed to know you were with Rachel? Please don't tell me the death of our company is going to be because of your fucking girlfriend."

"Whoa guys..." Mike finally interrupted, seeing the tensions arising. "Look - we've got super limited time to get this together for Nike tomorrow. I really need a nap, okay? The company isn't dieing and we won't let it! We can pull this together, but we're going to need all of us in this together on the same page...not fighting each other."

Finn and Sam stared each other down before Finn gave in. This was his company. He needed to be the bigger person. Sam had every right to be upset with him.

"Mike's right. Look, I'm sorry that I wasn't around yesterday and that I wasn't answering my phone. I should have at least done that. You guys know how much this place means to me...and without any of you guys, we wouldn't be where we are right now. So I'm sorry, okay?" Finn said, looking around at everyone, before turning his eyes back to Sam.

Sam nodded a little. "I'm sorry too. I guess I'm just as passionate..."

Finn gave him a small smile. "That's why you're my right hand man, right? Thanks for taking care of business as usual."

Mike smiled looking at the two guys. "Good! Now seriously, I need a nap and then I'll get back to work...I swear."

"Good morning sunshines!" Sugar walked in, holding a tray of food. "I knew you cutie pies would be here super early so I got you all some breakfast." She set the food on the table, and the guys attacked it like vultures.

Finn laughed, watching his team thank Sugar and scarf down food at the same time. He had a good team. There was no way he could just let all of this slip away...let alone let Sue Sylvester buy him over.


Finn glanced at the time and saw it was already nearing 7 pm. He should have been home already, changed and on his way to meet Rachel and her dad's for dinner. Instead, he was deep in work that seemed to be going nowhere. Their deadline for Nike was quickly approaching, and Finn was also trying to spend time making sure all of their other clients were happy.

He was also silently freaking out because yeah, he was supposed to be meeting Rachel's parents. Of course he was totally in love with Rachel, but there was just something scary about meeting your girlfriend's father. In her case, her two fathers.

He texted Rachel that he'd be a little late, and he'd meet them there, but that was nearly an hour ago. He heard the annoyance in her voice (even through text messages), but the way things were going at work, there was no way he'd be able to leave now. He had a whole plan to change into a button down shirt, a tie, hell, even put some gel in his hair. Instead - around 7:30, he made the decision to just go to the restaurant the way he was already dressed. The name of the restaurant was something super French and he just knew that he was underdressed in his jeans, t-shirt and his LA Dodgers baseball cap.

"Are you really leaving right now?" Kurt said to him, raising his eyebrow.

"Look it's just for an hour - I just have to meet Rachel's dads, they're in town just for today and I promised her I'd be there." Finn said, already trying to run out the door.

"You better come back, Hudson! We need you here!" Sam yelled out.

"I'll be back, I swear!" Finn yelled back, already out the door now and heading straight to his car.


He got to the restaurant a little after 8 and hurried over to the table. "Hey! Sorry I'm so late...had to finish some things up at work and then there was traffic..." he said to Rachel, before turning his attention over to Rachel's dads. "Hi, uh, Mr. Berry and uh...Mr. Berry, I'm Hudson. Finn! I mean...I'm Finn Hudson." Finn said.

You'd think an elephant or something walked into the restaurant, the way they were looking at him in such disbelief.

Rachel cleared her throat. "Finn, please...have a seat." she pointed to the chair next to her.

He nodded and sat down, reaching over for Rachel's hand under the table, squeezing it gently. "Sorry..." he muttered.

She gave him a small smile. "I thought you were going to change..." she muttered back to him.

"I had no time to run back home..."

The waiter came over to the table as Finn was settled. "Can I get you anything to drink, sir?"

"God, I'd love a beer." Finn told him. "What do you have on draft?"

"We don't have anything on draft." The man responded, almost snottily.

"Okay...well do you have Stella? I'll have that."

The man nodded and walked off with his order. Finn looked around and noticed both her fathers and Rachel were drinking wine.

LeRoy cleared his throat. "Finn, is it? What exactly is it that you do?"

"I work in Marketing actually..." Finn responded, already feeling like he was in the hot seat.

"Finn actually has his own business, Daddy. He started it on his own." Rachel said, trying to pull Finn back in good graces.

"Oh really?" Hiram said.

Finn nodded. "Yeah...it's just something I've always been interested in. It's only been a few years, but we've been doing pretty well..."

"Thanks." Finn said to the waiter who brought back his drink, immediately taking a long sip.

Hiram nodded. "Starting your own business is no joke. Although most small companies tend be out of business within 5 years of starting."

Finn laughed a little, unsure of what to say. He couldn't tell if the man was complimenting him, or telling him he'd basically fail?

The rest of the dinner seemed to follow a very similar pattern. Anytime Finn would say something, it felt like her fathers took turns shooting him down. Rachel seemed to not even notice the way they were treating him. If she noticed, she didn't say anything. Did he really leave his team at work so he'd come here and be spoken down to like that? Rachel did say they were difficult, but they were literally the most snobbish people Finn ever met.

He glanced at his phone to check the time and to see if the guys sent him any messages from work.

"Do you have somewhere to be, Finn?" LeRoy said to him.

"I was just checking if I had any messages...my team is working really hard on a new client." Finn responded, slightly embarrassed he was caught.

"I couldn't imagine there'd be something more important than meeting your girlfriend's father's..." Hiram said.

"Dad..." Rachel said, finally noticing the clear tension between them.

"Oh Rachel! Before I forget, do you remember David? He's in town for the week, I told him you'd be able to show him around, and have dinner one day this week." LeRoy told her.

Finn glanced at Rachel. Who the hell was this David guy? He saw the look she shot her father's and that was really the last straw for the night.

He looked at his phone again, feigning a message came through. "Excuse me a second..." He got up and walked off, pretending to make a phone call.

Rachel waited until Finn was out of hearing distance, and turned to her father's.

"Whatever you guys are doing, please stop it!" she told them.

"Rachel, you cannot be serious with him. He's a boy. How on earth can you tell me this is the person you have been seeing?" LeRoy told her, shaking his head.

"He's not the one for you, darling." Hiram shook his head, agreeing with his husband, taking a sip of his wine.

"Finn is a great person, he's clearly just very busy with work right now and his mind is preoccupied..." Rachel said.

"Don't defend that poor behavior, Rachel." LeRoy told her. "If a man really cares about spending his life with a woman, he would put more effort into meeting her father's."

Rachel sighed, but held in her response as Finn came back to the table. Her face scrunched up in confusion as he did not sit back down.

"Finn?" she said.

"I'm sorry to do this, but I really need to run. There's an emergency at work and I've got to head back over there..." he said, avoiding eye contact with Rachel.

"What a shame..." Hiram said to him. "Well nice meeting you, Finn."

"What?" Rachel said to him. "Can't they handle it without you?"

"No. It's urgent." He responded quickly. "Sorry - I've gotta go...I'll call you later Rach." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek, before quickly heading out of there.

He got into his car and sighed. What the fuck. That did not go the way he wanted it to. Her father's clearly had a very specific image of who they expected their daughter to be with. It was apparent Finn did not fit that mold. He started his car and drove away from the restaurant, as fast as he possibly could.

He knew Rachel would be pissed, but at this point, he had bigger things to worry about.