A/N: A birthday gift for one of my favourite Leos, FrankenFinn, who adores Finchel.
This is an AU one shot set in the late 90s where Finchel met differently when they were younger. I prefer the idea that the OG Glee kids were born in the 80s… long story (I know it sounds crazy and doesn't exactly fit canon but I digress.) For the purpose of this story, imagine that it's an AU where Funny Girl was showing in the 90s and Barbra S. was somehow starring in it.
At thirteen years old, Finn could think of nothing worse than being stuck at some distant family friend's house for three whole months. That was practically an eternity. It felt like a punishment, even though his mom was acting like he was going on some cool vacation trip. He knew she was only trying to cheer him up.
"Mom, do I really have to do this?" Finn pouted a little and complained as Carole continued driving along the highway. He was holding their lunch, a brown paper bag of fast food burgers and fries, on his lap, passing fries to his mother every so often then downing the rest of them at full speed. "I don't even know them."
"Honey, don't you remember the Berrys? We saw them at the fair two years ago."
Finn vaguely remembered a tiny, dark-haired girl who was bundled up in a fluffy pink coat, holding the hands of two tall men as they lead her through the Christmas market in Lima. He hadn't thought too deeply about the family at the time as he was focusing on the giant hunk of gingerbread he was chewing on while taking sips of the richest hot chocolate he had ever tried.
He did remember those big, round, curious brown eyes watching him as Carole spoke for ages to the two immaculately dressed men, who were somehow decked out in full suits in the middle of winter. Adults never seemed to stop talking about boring things when they met each other in public. Rachel supposedly went to some expensive private school for girls so that was why he had never seen her at his elementary school before.
"I guess I do but it'll be weird to stay with them."
"Finn, don't think of it like that. The Berrys have a huge house, it's like a mansion and they're like family to us. They've always been so good to us. They've been asking for us to come by and visit for ages. Besides, you know there's nothing for you to do at our place. You'd just be bored. They're a little… quirky but I promise you they're really good people."
Finn enjoyed the feeling of the sun's rays hitting his skin through the open window as he turned the radio up, playing this mixtape he had burned of their favourite classic rock songs and danced along to them.
He liked summer. It was lazy and carefree. It was his second favourite time of the year after autumn. Autumn had Halloween and piles of leaves to jump into, so that automatically made it the best.
Most of the time Finn's summers were spent lazing around at his house while Carole worked long hours. He was cool with that except for the whole, his mom having to work part.
He didn't understand why things had to change.
He liked playing video games or watching TV all day, eating ice cream until he almost felt sick, or even just riding his old bike he had got too tall for around the neighourhood. He liked being at home with just the two of them and not having to do any homework. His mom didn't really push him to do chores around the house and somehow he felt close to her, like they really bonded over the summers when they saw each other more.
Sometimes they even got ice cream or a pizza as a treat but the rest of the time he had ice lollies and this knockoff brand of red soda that still tasted pretty good. He lived on his mom's meatloaf, dinosaur nuggets, hamburger helper, and of course, mac n cheese from the box. Good old American classics, Finn thought. His mom's cooking was the best of course.
The Hudson house always had plenty of off brands to the point where Finn didn't even know what the brand name things were anymore.
The brown-haired boy knew his mom was self-conscious about not being able to offer him much as she saw it. Not like Mike Chang's parents who took him on extravagant vacations to China and Paris and all of these other fancy places Finn could never dream of. Mercedes Jones and Santana Lopez both had rich parents too. Even Brittany Pierce had a pretty big house with a pool and wore preppy designer clothes like Santana's to school.
Sometimes it felt like Finn was the only one whose mom worked two jobs and still cried whenever their electricity went off from time to time because she forgot to pay the bills. Finn never liked having to remind her. They never seemed to have enough money for anything.
Finn's amber-brown eyes widened when they began driving into this upscale part of Lima he had only been to once or twice. All of a sudden, he began seeing the fanciest multi-story mansions he had ever seen in his life, all lined up on the same street.
They finally arrived at the Berry mansion fifteen minutes later and Carole cringed when her car screeched to a halt. The battered chunk of metal was about twenty years old and had already broken down at least once on their way over. Finn had learned so much about cars from attempting to fix it and listening to Carol argue with the mechanic guys who always tried to bully her into paying more.
Finn stared in awe at the sprawling structure, that was so fancy compared to anything in his own part of town. Carol's tiny house could have probably fit into the Berry mansion four times over.
The two friendly looking Berry men were waving at the two of them. They both seemed so excitable. Finn blinked at them for a while, confused by the way they dressed in full suits in the middle of summer just like they had in the middle of winter. He looked down at his own ratty, basic, striped t-shirt his mom had bought him that was starting to become threadbare in parts and suddenly felt inadequate.
The first thing he thought was that this family was really weird. They began an impromptu performance as soon as they saw them, complete with tap dancing and singing. He didn't know the song and it sounded pretty old time-y - something about saying hello to Dolly? - but he had to admit, these guys could sing. He had never heard such good singers.
Finn looked down at his mom - he was already taller than her after his latest growth spurt - and she looked less than amused by the display but she began to clap politely and nudged him in the side so he clapped along with her when they were done.
The two fancy men bowed before them as if they had just finished a performance on stage. Finn noticed that the taller one was wearing big glasses with heavy rims while the shorter man had curly hair.
"Hurrah! They're here, LeRoy! Look at you, Finn, you're getting so big!" The taller man rushed towards them and pulled him into a crushing bear hug before hugging Carole as well. "And look at you, Carole, looking so young and stylish."
"Hiram, Hiram, calm down. Let the boy breathe. You're scaring him," The shorter man, LeRoy muttered in an exasperated tone, shaking his head, evidently embarrassed by his partner. "Believe me, he's always like this. I can't take him anywhere."
"I'm always like this? You, LeRoy, are the king of flamboyance."
Finn had no idea what that word even meant but apparently it was a bad thing. The boy blinked, confused as they bickered while his mother pursed her lips, shaking her head. She had this look in her eyes as if this was far from the first time she had seen the two men acting this way.
"Our apologies, where are our manners? I say, it's incredibly hot. Come on in. Carole, would you stop to have a drink with us?" Hiram put his arm around Finn's shoulders and LeRoy did the same, gesturing to them to follow them in.
Finn overheard his mom talking to the two men in the kitchen while he stood by awkwardly. He looked around at everything, noticing that the entire house was incredibly clean and shiny as if it had been polished. It looked exactly how he'd imagined some really rich person's house would be like with statues and fountains, tons of dark wood furniture and paintings everywhere. It was so classy. Finn suddenly felt uncomfortable.
There was no way he could live here.
"It's no problem at all, Carole. We're happy to have him for the summer. I think it'll be great for our little darling Rachel as well. She can play with someone her own age for a change instead of stiff old men and their old man friends. You know the kids at the school can be so mean to little girls who are a little different."
Finn frowned, scuffing his ratty sneaker on the perfectly shiny floor. He really didn't want to be forced into playing with some little oddball girl all summer. He was thirteen. He should be getting to be at home doing nothing but playing video games and hanging out with his actual friends.
Soon it was time for his mother to say goodbye, after she finished the ice tea Hiram poured for her and the adults had talked about old times for what felt like a million years to Finn. She hugged him, whispering in his ear.
"Finny-Bear, Honey, you know how to reach me if you need anything. I packed everything you need in your bag. Don't worry, you'll have lots of fun and I'll be back before you know it."
Although he'd never admit it to the guys at school unless he wanted to get his head dunked in a toilet, Finn did feel tears come to his eyes as he hugged his mom one last time. He always felt a little upset and scared when she left him at summer camp and this was going to be way longer than that. She was his best friend in so many ways and all they had was each other. His mom was the only one he ever felt he could trust, ever since his dad passed away.
"Little Hudson, don't be so upset, you'll get wrinkles like mine on that charming face. I know, how about an ice cream to cheer us all up?" Hiram suggested. Finn's face lit up at that. He knew from his mom that there was nothing in life that couldn't be fixed with ice cream. In fact, Finn usually bought tubs of it for his mom from the convenience store down the street whenever he saw her crying about something. "What do you think, LeRoy?"
"I think a gelato is in order." The shorter man agreed with a twinkle in his eye.
"Yes!" Finn cheered then blinked in confusion. "Wait, what's a gelato?"
"A frozen Italian treat. There's that charming, dimpled Hudson smile. You look so much like your mother when she was younger, it's uncanny, doesn't he, Hiram? Those kind golden-brown eyes of hers. However, I heard you have your father's athleticism. Sportiness is certainly not a Berry trait."
Finn eventually took a seat at the huge, rectangular dining table. He couldn't get over the fact that it took what felt like ten minutes for the two men to get to the kitchen and back. He discovered that he liked gelato, although it was nowhere near as good as ice cream in his eyes. Hiram and LeRoy were staring at him again. He swallowed, awkwardly trying to make conversation.
"You knew my dad?"
"Certainly. Knew him? Why Hiram and I were the best men at his wedding and he helped us build this house. Christopher David Hudson, may he rest in peace. We still remember Christopher's baseball games. A legend, he was. That man knew how to swing a bat. Had a home run record of five hundred feet, you know. Gone far too soon."
Finn's eyes went wide. He wanted to ask them so many questions. Any information he could get about his dad was so precious to him. He couldn't ask his mom much about Christopher without her completely tearing up. The two men noticed the way he was looking at them in awe with his jaw dropped, fascinated by hearing about his father.
"And he was such a humble man, a good man through and through," Hiram added and then laughed as he seemed to think of something. "Very handsome too."
LeRoy frowned at him and Hiram shrugged, glaring at his spouse.
"What, I can't make an observation? Don't be jealous now, LeRoy. You know he's not my type. You're my type."
"I should say!"
Finn raised an eyebrow at that as the two men began to bicker all over again. It was difficult to keep track of their silly constant arguments though they seemed to enjoy it and never got upset. They reminded him of two little old ladies his mom brought over to their house a few times. He had never heard a man call another man handsome but Hiram and LeRoy looked at each other as if they were the most beautiful thing each other had ever seen.
It was then that Finn noticed that strange daughter of theirs watching him from behind a corner before she disappeared again, gasping and covering her mouth with her hand when she caught him staring at her.
"Come along now, young Hudson Boy. We've got you set up in one of our guest rooms. We think you'll find it quite comfortable." LeRoy told him as Hiram nodded beside him in agreement.
They began to give him a complete tour of their house and Finn just stared at everything, gaping. The room they eventually took him to was way bigger than his cramped bedroom at home. In fact, it was probably about half the size of his entire house.
"Oh, Rachela, don't be shy, come say hello to our new house guest," Hiram put his arm around Rachel's shoulders and gave her a squeeze, gesturing towards Finn. "This is little Finn Hudson, Carole's son. You know Carole. I think you met him once before."
"Yes, I do believe we have." The little girl answered in a high-pitched voice that was clear as a bell. Hiram and LeRoy chuckled, obvious affection in their eyes as they watched their daughter.
"We'll leave you two to get to know each other. Let us know if you need anything."
Her bedroom was the girliest, frilliest room he had ever seen in his life but aside from how much she apparently loved pink and all things feminine, Rachel was anything but typical of a girl her age. She was different to any girl in his class… actually, different to any he had ever met. He was struck by how much larger her bedroom was compared to his own.
He thought Rachel was so shy at first but once she started talking to him, she was loud and talked nonstop about so many things in that high voice of hers that he almost felt dizzy. He just nodded, taking everything in and keeping a polite smile on his face even though he didn't understand half of the things she spoke about.
"One day, I'm going to be Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway to carry on Barbra's legacy. Then I'm going to win my Tony."
"Okay…" Finn mumbled, processing this for a long moment and not knowing what to say. "Who's Tony? Is he the guy you like?"
Rachel blushed, shaking her head and smiled for the first time since he met her. She giggled and he thought her laugh was cute.
"No, no, Silly. A Tony is an award in American theatre. They're named after Antoinette Perry."
Finn nodded, still confused but didn't question her any further. Rachel was like the human version of one of those encyclopaedias his mom kept on their shelf in the living room.
Finn was pretty sure he had never met a girl - or anyone who was quite like Rachel Berry before. She was this hyper, confident ball of intensity and she had her entire life planned out. Finn didn't even have a plan for what he wanted to do in the next five minutes. Rachel spoke like an adult and used all these three syllable words that made Finn so confused. She was also old timey and seemed to think she was living in another decade.
"How old are you, Finn?"
"I'm thirteen," He mumbled. "You?"
"Same," She smiled. "I'll be turning fourteen in early September. Would you like to sing with me now?"
"Sing?" Finn felt his face turning red. He only sang in front of his mom and her boyfriend Darren or in the shower. Rachel seemed like she was some kind of singing expert and he was nervous about how he'd sound to her. "I- I can't."
"Please, just try. Your speaking voice is very nice, Finn and I just know in my heart that you'd be a talented singer."
She began to play an instrumental track on her CD player and Finn stood by awkwardly. He raised an eyebrow at the romantic song Rachel chose… "You're The Inspiration" by Chicago.
Finn just hoped no one at school ever found out he was doing this… or that he already knew the lyrics by heart.
Eventually he joined in with his slightly deeper voice that hadn't quite broken yet. He sighed when he was done and she just gaped at him without saying a word.
"I know, I'm terrible, right?"
"No… it's the opposite, Finn. You're extraordinarily talented."
"Thanks… that's one of my favourite songs." He admitted, looking away shyly and feeling his face heat up. He had never told anyone that and didn't know why he felt the urge to tell this girl of all people.
"Mine too. You have good taste."
He noticed she was staring at him afterward with this weird look in her eyes for a long time as she flopped down on her bed and he sat on the chair by her desk. He was beginning to wonder if he had that gelato stuff all over him.
"What is it?"
"You have a lot of moles on your face."
"Oh…" He touched his hand to his cheek, feeling kind of self-conscious. "You have some too."
"I don't mean it in a bad way. It was just an observation, not a criticism. They're what make you unique… they're… nice," Finn's eyes widened at the way she was looking at him and blushing visibly. "Your hair is too. Nice, I mean. I mean, I think… you look very handsome."
"Thanks…" Finn replied slowly, not knowing where she was going with this. He pushed back his floppy brown hair self-consciously. It was starting to grow a little longer than normal. It was cool and flattering that a girl thought he was handsome but the way she was staring at him was kind of scary. Girls were so confusing and Rachel was probably the most confusing of all. She was looking at him with big, adoring brown eyes like she was planning to lock him in her room forever or maybe hide under his bed that night. "Um, I have to go."
"Go? But why? We just began to get to know each other!" Rachel pouted, her voice becoming a little whiny.
"Sorry." Finn muttered, dashing away and making an excuse about how he needed some fresh air.
Finn lost his temper when Rachel still tried to follow him and ran away, slamming one of the heavy doors on his way out to the backyard. He had almost got lost in their mansion.
"I don't want to be at this stupid, weird house with stupid old men and some stupid girl who wants to, I don't know, marry me and lock me away in her bedroom!" He shouted loudly to himself and no one else in particular, grunting in annoyance. "I hate summer! I hate being poor! I hate everything! I'm sick of this!"
"You know, sometimes girls aren't so bad," A man chuckled. "And goofy little girls, they sometimes grow up to be pretty young women. I mean, that might sound hypocritical coming from me of all people but I do like them well enough as friends. Although I don't care to kiss them or marry them but one day you might, Finn, you never know."
Finn turned around, shocked and embarrassed when he realized Hiram was standing right behind him on the patio area, his arms crossed and watching him with a knowing look in his dark brown eyes that were so similar to his daughter's.
There was something so wise about them as if they could see through him. Finn felt ashamed of his outburst and his cheeks flamed red as he wished he could take back his words.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, Mr. Berry. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright. We all lose our temper sometimes and you were honest about how you felt. I know this isn't exactly a pleasant holiday for you, Mr. Hudson but you should give Rachel a chance to be your friend. She doesn't mean badly."
"She just doesn't get it, Mr. Berry. She keeps… looking at me like… I don't know. No offence."
"I know you don't really understand our daughter and she can be a little… intense, I say lovingly, just like her fathers are but maybe we can find a way to make this summer work out nicely, can't we? Even if you think we're two ridiculous old men."
"Yes, Sir." Finn eventually agreed politely, not knowing what else to say. He knew his mother would kill him for being so rude to them if she ever found out. He was going to be in so much trouble.
Maybe kicking something would help him get his frustration out. Sports always helped him clear his head when he was angry or upset.
Finn groaned when he saw the girl staring at him from her window upstairs with a glum expression as he kicked his football around in the massive backyard that afternoon while Hiram and LeRoy sat around on their deck chairs on the porch nearby, sipping wine. The men stared at him weirdly like if the action of kicking a ball around was so unheard of and maybe for them, it was.
They had so many weird statues of what looked like lady singers and fountains and perfectly pruned rose bushes that Finn was scared of breaking anything.
Rachel seemed to appear out of nowhere, quietly watching him play and still had that pout on her face as if she was offended that he had put an end to their conversation but Finn just kept kicking the ball around, huffing. If he ignored her, maybe she'd get the message that he wasn't in the mood for prissy rich girls.
When Finn thought about a girl he'd end up dating, he imagined she'd be super popular at school. She'd be the typical preppy type. Rachel seemed like the opposite of that. She seemed like the girl who wouldn't really fit into any group.
Eventually the heat began getting to him and he wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm, pulling off his shirt and throwing it on the ground. The sun felt good beating down on his skin. He heard Rachel gasp again.
"What?" He snapped, a little harsher than he intended. Rachel looked at him curiously.
"It's just that I've never seen a boy shirtless before. Other than my dads, of course," Rachel admitted. "They don't count though. Actually… I've never really spoken to a boy either, before you."
"Oh."
Finn didn't know what to say to that and Rachel yelped, jumping out of the way as if it was going to kill her when he kicked the ball again even though it wasn't even remotely in her direction. Finn smirked, shaking his head and couldn't help but laugh as she glared at him petulantly. She sat on another deck chair beside her fathers in a little sunhat and a sundress, applying sunscreen all over herself as she sulked.
When it was time for dinner that night, Finn was expecting some kind of stuffy five course meal served on silver platters with foods he had never heard of before in his life, knowing how this family was. He was already so bored, missed his mom, and he was starving. He was surprised and relieved when Hiram seemed to notice his glum expression and came up to him with a question.
"What would Master Hudson like to do for dinner?"
"I get to choose?" Finn was stunned when the two men nodded. "Can we… just order a pizza?"
Finn blinked, confused when the two men looked at each other like they'd never heard of the food in their life. How had anyone not heard of pizza?
"Pizza? I suppose I could look up the menu for that new, five star Italian place."
"What about Breadstix pizza? My mom takes me there all the time."
This again, seemed to cause an uproar in the Berry house as Rachel and her fathers were silent for a long moment, staring at each other. Rachel wrinkled her nose in apparent distaste.
"You know, Breadstix. You've been there before, right?" Judging by the looks on the family's faces, he guessed not. It was probably way too cheap and ordinary for them.
"I don't see why not, LeRoy. Let's do something different, for a change. We can be a little spontaneous."
"I agree. Finn, you can advise us on the best pizza to get from that Breadstix you like so much."
With that, Finn got his wish and twenty minutes later the four of them sat down to have huge slices of meat lover's pizza they had delivered. There was a vegetarian one on the side for Rachel, who ate dainty little bites of it and kept looking at it as if she didn't quite trust it. Seeing Rachel and her fathers eating "ordinary" fast food was a bizarre experience.
"Um, Mr. Berry…" Finn stared at Hiram in confusion. "I thought you said you can't eat pork."
"Okay… our secret's out. We both do it all the time. I won't tell if you won't." Hiram winked, laughing with his husband at their joke. Surprisingly, the four of them all ended up having a good time on pizza night, even Rachel who had been so skeptical.
Maybe Hiram and LeRoy weren't so bad. They kind of reminded him of how he felt when Darren told him he was a good singer or helped him with his homework. They reminded him of what having a father might be like.
That night as he tossed and turned, trying to sleep, he heard the sweet sound of Rachel singing in her clear, distinctive voice echoing through the house. Rather than being disturbing, he found it strangely calming and drifted off to sleep. Although she was so young, Rachel's singing really was beautiful, like no other singer he had ever heard. It was the kind of voice that should have been on CDs or singing to audiences.
"A trip to New York City!" Rachel clasped her hands together, jumping around excitedly as her dads announced the news the next day at breakfast. "This will be wonderful."
"New York City?" Finn repeated, blinking in confusion, looking up from the weird plate of scrambled eggs Hiram had given him.
"My dads and I go every year and have a marvellous time. It's a family tradition." She explained.
"What would we do there?" Finn had only heard about New York a few times and seen it on TV shows but he didn't have much interest in going to big cities. His mom said it was expensive and a concrete jungle where everything moved really fast.
"What will we do, he asks," LeRoy chuckled. "Oh our sweet summer child. Why Finn, you're in for a treat. We have so many adventures to go on. It's our little Rachela's favourite place in the world."
"We can show you everything, Finn. We'll go to all the Broadway shows."
His mom would never be able to afford to take him to something like that and Finn thought of Broadway shows as something only boring, really rich elderly people did.
"It's really kind of you, Mr. and Mr. Berry," He cleared his throat awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "You don't have to expense yourselves for me. I can be just fine staying here, mowing your lawn and watching the house."
"Nonsense, Finn! You'd love New York. You simply have to experience it with us. We've already asked your mother for permission and she said she thought it would be a great surprise for you. Of course, we can't force you but LeRoy and I would love for you to come."
With that, Finn found himself packing his meager belongings into a bag and getting on a plane with the Berrys. He had never been on a plane before either, so that itself was pretty fascinating.
They went to some place called Sardi's, visited the Statue of Liberty and Central Park, and went to a ton of other places he'd never remember the names of. The city was so big and crowded that Finn felt overwhelmed by everything. They stayed in a five star hotel that had separate rooms for himself, Rachel and her parents. Finn soon discovered how much he liked living in luxury. He could get used to it.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Finn noticed Rachel lagging behind on a particularly hot and humid day. Rachel nodded but he noticed how tired and overheated she looked.
"Hey… I can give you a piggyback ride if you want?" He heard himself offer before he even realized what he was saying. She stared at him with wide eyes as if she couldn't quite believe what he was saying and then nodded quickly. Hiram and LeRoy smirked as they saw Finn lifting her though the shorter man narrowed his eyes at him, as if warning him not to drop her. Rachel was tiny and easy to carry. She clung to his neck tightly the entire time.
Then the day that Finn was really dreading arrived. Funny Girl on Broadway with Barbra Streisand. Rachel had already made him watch the movie with her three times in the family's "Oscar Room" and then spoke repeatedly in an excited tone about how she couldn't wait to see this.
"Broadway is actually kind of cool." He admitted when they left the theatre. Hiram and LeRoy were walking ahead of them, excitedly discussing the play.
He never thought he'd say that but the performers were super talented.
The truth was, the best part of the whole trip was seeing how excited Rachel was. It was like she had stars in her eyes the whole time. She was totally in her element here. Getting to meet her idol in person was clearly the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.
Rachel was actually kind of cool too.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd like it at all but it was fun. Totally different from movies. It's classy. Plus, you got to meet your favourite person, right?"
Rachel was silent for a long time and Finn thought he had broken her. He was beginning to get concerned.
"Finn, meeting Barbra was wonderful but the best part of this all is having you here with us. I've never had an… actual friend before," She eventually admitted softly, looking at him gratefully. He was stunned. "At least, if you consider me a friend as I consider you. Thank you. I'm sorry for scaring you when we first met."
"Hey, no problem. I like being your friend." He shrugged and replied after a while. She beamed at him as if he put the stars in the sky. Maybe she was the first real genuine friend he had ever had too.
"Rachel, come on. I sang with you that one time, so it's only right you play this with me," He teased, trying to get her to join in. "It's just baseball."
They were back at the Berry's house after returning from their trip and as usual, Finn was playing in the backyard.
"I suppose you're right," She eventually agreed, watching him nervously from the porch. "I suppose we both need to step out of our comfort zones sometimes."
He put the bat in her hands and shook his head, grinning when she held it all wrong with her little hands. He helped her to hold it better and then threw out a ball for her to hit. Rachel was so small and her arms were tiny. He wondered if she'd be able to do it.
Eventually he walked up to her, stepping behind her and trying to show her how to swing the bat properly after she had failed many times and was looking at him helplessly. He noticed that LeRoy and Hiram were watching from the side with amused looks on their faces, gasping a little whenever he pitched the ball to Rachel. She just had no upper body strength.
"See, that's how you do it. Put your arms like this. Hit it hard, come on you can put more force into it than that."
It was only then that he realized why Rachel was being so quiet and her body language was so tense. He had his arms around her and they were so close, in a way that wasn't really typical for a boy and girl who were just friends.
If it had been a month ago when they had just met, Finn would have instantly let her go and put some distance between them but strangely, he felt like he didn't want to let her go.
"I've never kissed a boy before. I wonder what it would be like."
Rachel's comment out of nowhere made Finn flinch. He wasn't expecting her to say that at all and now there was this even weirder tension. The girl cleared her throat awkwardly while Finn shifted his weight, squirming nervously.
"Huh?"
"Have you kissed a girl before?"
"No." He admitted, feeling a flush rise to his face. He suddenly felt bad for being honest and thought maybe he should have lied but then again Rachel had never kissed anyone either so it wasn't as if she had anything over him.
"Would he sweep me into his arms and kiss me all passionately like in the movies?"
"Rachel… are you saying all this stuff because you want us to kiss?"
"No," The tiny girl blushed, staring at some tree in the distance and brushing back her hair. Finn could tell she was pretending to preen and fuss with her hair because she was embarrassed. "W-why would I do that? O-of course not."
Finn looked down at her face, turning around to face her and letting go but still staying in close proximity. It was like he was seeing her as a girl for the first time. With the sun setting around them, all he noticed was how cute Rachel was. She was such a pretty girl, with that naturally olive skin she had, her full lips, soft-looking hair and soft brown eyes. Her skin was unbelievably soft to the touch.
"Rachel, close your eyes."
She did as he said instantly and he noticed her trembling nervously, feeling himself shaking as well as he inched closer and kissed her. It was just a tiny, impulsive kiss but when he pulled away, her cheeks were so red and she was staring at him as if heaven had just opened up.
She pressed her finger to her lips, tracing them and was still frozen in place as if she couldn't quite believe what had just happened. She looked like she was going to faint. Finn couldn't deny that he felt a little spark when they kissed, his face a similar shade of red to hers.
He couldn't believe he had done it. He had actually kissed a girl.
He could hear Hiram and LeRoy squawking in the background and he began to wonder if he should start running, just in case they owned shotguns. Those two were really overprotective of their daughter to say the least.
They were both silent, not quite looking each other in the eye as Finn finally moved away from her, throwing out a ball for her again.
"Hey, you did it!" Finn cheered, smiling at her and running to give her a high five when she finally managed to hit one of the balls he tossed to her after that. She looked totally proud of herself and in shock. The sun continued to set around them and all Finn noticed was how pretty she looked standing there, glowing in the gold light with her dark hair and eyes.
That was the beginning of how Finn fell in love with Rachel Berry.