Let's get our Finchel on! ;)
Here's the next chapter!
(I think you guys are really going to like it!)
Finn walked into the theatre on Friday night and immediately searched the lobby for Santana. The room was packed from corner to corner. Parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, anyone who wanted to support someone in the West Side Story cast was here.
Santana better be happy, Finn thought. He had actually put in the effort to dress up for the event. He wore a nice shirt along with khaki pants. He put on cologne before he left the house too, which he rarely did. He had always been more of a casual guy, and never liked to dress up. He only did when he had to, and tonight seemed like a night for dressing up. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he felt like he needed to look presentable tonight. He had a feeling that something good was going to happen.
Finally, he saw Santana come into view. She was wearing her Anita costume already, and her hair was styled for her character as well. Santana walked up to him and smiled, clapping her hands as she looked at his outfit.
"Wow, I am impressed. You look nice Finn," Santana said, especially happy that he was dressed up to see one Rachel Berry. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back. The plan was coming together quite nicely.
"Thanks," Finn replied. "And your costume looks awesome."
"Why thank you," Santana twirled around to give him the full effect. "Oh, and here is your ticket." She handed him the front row ticket that was originally for her father. "Your seat is right next to my grandma's. Good luck."
"Thanks," Finn responded, already knowing that her grandma was going to gush about how she hasn't seen him in forever. "Good luck to you too. You're going to do great out there."
"I hope so," Santana said. "I think everyone knows their parts very well and are ready for this. I'm pretty sure it will be very good."
"I'm sure it will be," Finn replied.
"All right, I should probably go and finish getting ready. I'll see you afterwards, okay?" Santana asked. She tuned around and headed back towards the dressing room area.
Finn watched Santana as she walked away, and he was about to head towards the seating area, but a PA system announcement caught his attention.
"Rachel Berry to wardrobe. Rachel Berry to wardrobe. Thank you."
Finn paused. Rachel Berry? Rachel Berry was in the play? His eyes found Santana again, who was now on the other side of the room. She turned around and winked at him before continuing on to her dressing room. His jaw dropped, Santana knew who Rachel was all along? Finn had never loved his best friend more than he did at that moment. Thanks to Santana he was seeing Rachel again. Tonight.
"Hey!" Santana said as she sat next to Rachel on a couch that was placed back stage. "Are you ready for this?"
"Santana," Rachel began, "I was born ready."
Santana laughed, "Good. I think something really good is going to happen tonight. I can feel it." Santana could barely contain her excitement for Rachel and Finn. Tonight was the night!
"You seem very excited," Rachel commented. "Are you excited for your grandma to see the show? I bet she is."
"Yeah, that's it," Santana played along. "She hasn't stopped talking about it all week-long. She hasn't stopped talking about you either, come to think of it. She always gets overly excited when I introduce her to a new friend."
"That's nice. I really like your grandma. She's so sweet. I'm excited to ask her how she liked the performance after the show."
"I'm sure she'll hunt you down afterwards, so you'll have a chance to ask her," Santana said, knowing her grandma all too well. "You have no idea how much she adores you."
"Aww, I'm honored," Rachel said. She glanced up at the clock on the wall, "We should probably finish getting ready. I'll see you out there!" She stood up from the couch and headed back to her dressing room.
Finn navigated his way through the darkened theatre and found his seat. He sat down right next to Santana's grandma and gave her a big smile.
"Finn!" She exclaimed and pulled him in for a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages! Where on earth have you been? We've missed you!"
"Well, with my work and Santana's part in the musical, it's been hard for us to see each other lately. I'm sure we will be seeing each other again very soon since the musical will be done with soon."
"Great!" Santana's grandma said. "I told Santana that we need to have you and another one of her friends over some day. She met this one girl through the musical, and she is the sweetest girl I've ever met. What was her name again? Riley? No… Rachel! It was Rachel. Do you know her?"
Finn was confused. He was under the impression that Santana and Rachel were just cast mates. They were friends? "How long have they been friends?"
"If I remember correctly, Santana said that they met during auditions. That was what? A little over a month ago?"
Finn's eyes widened as it all came together. Auditions. That was the audition Rachel had to go to after Laurie and Ronald's engagement party. He made a note to himself to congratulate Santana for being able to hold in her secret for that long. Santana wasn't one for keeping things to herself.
The lights along the walls that were dimmed down from their normal lighting finally turned all the way off, signaling the start of the musical. Finn and Santana's grandma faced forward in their seats and got ready to watch the show.
They both watched the entire show in silence. Finn smiled through the darkness whenever Santana was on stage. He saw her grandmother tearing up during some of Santana's solos. He was very happy for Santana. She never really finished projects that she started, and he was a bit worried when she first told him that she was planning on auditioning for the play. But now that she had a real reason to stay focused, her grandmother being the reason, she was able to finish what she started and stay fully committed to the musical.
Even though Finn was originally there just to see Santana, Rachel also wowed him. He had never seen anyone more talented than her. His jaw dropped after all of her solos, and her acting skills blew him away. She was incredible, and he couldn't wait to know more about her.
Rachel walked out on stage with Oliver (Tony) for her final performance, One Hand, One Heart. As they began the scene, intending to bring her eyes back to Oliver, but something caught her eyes. She could only look for a second because she had a scene to do, but she could have sworn she saw someone she knew sitting in the front row. She could have sworn she saw Finn Hudson.
She cleared her mind of all distractions quickly and continued on with the musical. Impossible. She hadn't seen Finn since that day in the dress shop. It had been over a month, so naturally she had given up on hoping that fate would bring them together again.
Her eyes kept wandering back to the mystery boy again and again throughout the entire scene. He seemed to be looking right back at her. She had to repeatedly pull herself back to reality. You're being silly, Rachel. Focus on the song. Only on the song, she thought to herself over and over.
The song finished up, and the entire audience jumped to their feet to applaud. The cast and crew walked out onto the stage and bowed together. Santana got Finn's attention by waving to him, and she pointed to Rachel, giving Finn the signal that he better go and talk to her afterwards.
Rachel wandered around the theatre lobby after the show. She was looking for the man she noticed during the final performance. She was still a strong believer in fate, and she knew that if things were meant to be, she would find him.
She had to stop a few times during her search to receive a few "Congratulations" and "Good job!".
Rachel took one final glance at her surroundings before giving up on her search. She turned around and accidentally walked right into another person.
"Oh, I am so s-" her voice trailed off as she registered who she was looking at. "Finn?"
"Rachel," he breathed, sounding more relieved than anything.
"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked. "I thought I saw you in the audience, but I didn't think that it was possible. Why are you here?"
"Rachel, I never thought I'd see you again," Finn said, not answering her question. "I've spent so much time looking for you."
"Really?" Rachel asked in disbelief. She couldn't believe that someone would go to the trouble of trying to find her.
"Yes, really," he said. "I'm here because Santana gave me her extra front row ticket."
"Santana?" Rachel asked. "How do you know Santana?" Rachel looked around the room again and saw Santana this time, standing in the back corner watching them with a smile on her face.
"Santana's been my best friend since kindergarten," he explained. They stood in silence for a moment, smiling at each other. Neither knew what was supposed to happen next. "You know," Finn started, "I think you said something about making plans the next time we saw each other."
"I might have said something like that," Rachel smiled at him. "I'll call you tomorrow. I get your number from Santana."
"Okay," Finn replied. "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then." He started to walk away from her, but he heard her call his name. He turned around to see what she wanted, and was very surprised when instead of saying something to him, she stepped forward and placed her lips on his. He would have deepened the kiss if she hadn't pulled away a second later.
"I'm sorry I made you wait so long," Rachel said. "I promise I'll make it up to you."
Finn smiled widely. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Rachel waved goodbye before disappearing into the crowd to go and find her family.
Finn sighed contently before turning around and walking over to Santana. "You lying little cheat," he accused her. "You knew who she was the whole time!"
Santana held up her hands in defense. "Hey! It was supposed to be a surprise. Rachel wanted you guys to meet by chance, and you did. You guys just had a little push at the end. Can't you just thank me and move on?"
Finn nodded, "I know. Thank you, Santana. Seriously. Without you Rachel would have just been the girl I met at the dress shop one day. I owe you one."
"No, it's cool. I'm glad that you two are happy."
Finn smiled at her. It was official. He had the most incredible best friend in the entire world.
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