Title: Better Late Than Never, Chapter Three
Ship/Character: Finn, Brittany (appearances and mentions of various characters and pairings)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,685
A/N: Slight AU future fic with few spoilers. / Also available at FF.net here.
Finn laughed softly when Brittany reached across the table and pinched off a piece of his peanut butter cookie. It was cool that she wasn’t afraid to act a little silly even if they were both supposed to be adults now. He was still having some trouble with that concept himself.
“Thank you!” Brittany winked playfully at him once she popped the piece of cookie into her mouth.
Hanging out with he was even better than he’d expected and it made him wonder why they’d never hung out in high school. Aside from a really terrible date with her and Santana, he’d never really seen the girl outside of school or New Directions and they had kind of been part of the popular crowd together for a while. It probably had a lot to do with him being involved with Quinn and Rachel and all the drama surrounding that for a while. But sitting across from her at a small table at a cafe down the street from the dance studio, he realized just how interesting and cool she was to talk to. Talking to her felt easy and almost like they’d been friends who had actually been talking for years. They’d already been there for an hour and hadn’t even gotten that far into their conversation. So far, all they’d talked about was how they were both single and he knew that she’d been in New York for exactly ten months and was very happy that she’d decided to come by herself because it was the first time she felt independent.
How they’d missed each other for almost a year was beyond him, but Finn was glad that finally he’d found out that she was around.
Looking at her, he nodded and asked, “Do you feel independent because your parents aren’t here? I feel that way sometimes.”
Brittany shook her head and furrowed her brow in thought before meeting his eyes.
“When I was with Santana, even though I really felt like I loved her, it was all about her.” She shrugged as she stirred a spoon around in her coffee and looked across the table at him. “Like in high school, she was dealing with liking girls and it was always about whether or not she was ready to really be with me out in the open. And then no one really cared if I graduated, you know? Not even her. It kind of sucked that she didn't even ask if I ever needed help and I know it was kind of obvious."
She shrugged again before a small grin appeared, taking place of the small frown that he been there just moments before. "You saw my square root notes, Finn, the one with the rainbow drawing. You cheated off me."
With her grinning at him, Finn chuckled. "Guilty. It made sense at the time. And the drawings were more interesting than numbers. Math sucks."
Rolling her eyes playfully, Brittany took a small bite of her raspberry muffin. Once she swallowed the bite, she continued, "So once I graduated after you guys, I finally decided that I wanted to be single again and I went to school by myself and figured out everything all on my own.”
Finn could tell just by looking at her eyes that feeling like no one cared had hurt her and in a way he really understood that, too. But she'd done everything alone and succeeded. That was awesome to him. She had become a teacher and was living in New York by herself. She was obviously more independent than she had been in high school. Hell, she was even more independent than him considering how much time he spent at the Puckerman apartment. She seemed to have grown up the way they were all supposed to.
“You did a good job, Britt, doing all of this alone. That’s awesome. I bet your parents are proud.” Nodding slowly, he brought his drink up to his lips and took a long sip before putting it back on the table and saying, “You know, what you were saying about you and Santana not really being about you, it was kind of like that with me and Rach. I mean, I’m happy we tried and we’re totally good friends now and it’s awesome and not even weird or anything, but she was always coming here and I was just kind of being pulled along. There was really nothing I was good at it and I didn’t have a huge dream like she did. It took me awhile to get used to being here and being in college here, but I decided to stay because I like it. I like the city a lot more than I thought I would..” He shrugged and sent her a soft smile. “And they’re kind of my family, especially Caroline. It’d be extremely hard to leave now, you know?”
When Brittany smiled widely and nodded at him, he knew he’d said something right and that made him feel awesome. She’d been making him feel that way since the moment she’d smiled over her shoulder at him in thanks when he held the door open for her once they’d arrived at the cafe.
"Caroline really loves her Uncle Finn," Brittany said with a large smile. "She talks about you a lot more than you probably think. If I ask her what she’s doing when class is over, she gets this excited look on her face and says that she hopes she gets to play with you later. She said tea time was her favorite. She would be sad if you left."
Finn chuckled at the thought, not even a little embarrassed that the woman across from him knew that he played tea with a little girl and her stuffed animals. At least she didn’t know that he had named a lot of them with her.
“I’m not really sure if I ever could.” He shrugged before sighing softly. It was expensive to live in New York. His apartment might not have been the most extravagant, but it still wasn’t cheap and sometimes he barely managed to get by during the month one he’d paid bills and his rent and bought groceries for a couple of weeks. But if he went back to Lima right now without anything to show for it, with his tail between his legs, he would feel like a complete failure. “I’ve been applying to tons of office jobs, but they don’t feel like me, you know? They never hire me anyway.”
A lot of nights, Finn found himself at Puck and Rachel’s house eating dinner with them and coloring with Caroline until it was time for her bath and bedtime. It was nice most of the time, but he didn’t want to be that guy. He wanted his own family one day and he really couldn’t do that if he didn’t even have a way to support himself.
Brittany reached over and placed her hand on top of his. “I’ll help you find the perfect job for you, Finny.” Tilting her head to the side, he was a little distracted by the way she screwed up her nose in thought and he couldn’t even respond. When she looked back at him, she smiled widely. “I think I already have the best idea ever!” He could see the optimism in the way she smiled and hear it in her voice, so he nodded slowly.
“As long as it’s not some dancing job, I think I could try anything.” Smiling back over at her, he nodded again and settled back in his seat. She giggled softly and winked at him before he shook his head. Yeah, there was something about Brittany that made him feel like maybe things in New York were looking up.
Bobbing his head in agreement again, he smiled thankfully over at her. “Thanks, Brittany. I can’t think of anyone else who could help me.”
He had no idea what she had in mind, but he thought she might have understood what he was going through. Now she was a success story, at least in his eyes, and he thought she could definitely help him out. He was up for anything as long as she was by his side throughout it.
=/=
“This is my apartment.” Brittany turned her head to look at him as they reached an apartment building he’d walked past a few of the times he had brought or picked Caroline up from dance class and he chuckled.
“Can’t believe this is yours. I had no idea you were in there the whole time.”
Once they’d finished their coffees, they’d sat in the coffee shop for about 30 more minutes before Brittany said that she needed to head home and she wanted to show him where she lived. So he didn’t get lost the next day, she said, and he was totally up for walking her and making sure that she got home alright. It was already pretty dark by the time they were finished and he didn’t want to walk alone.
“Thanks for walking me home,” she said, snapping him out of his thoughts and removing her arm from his. Taking her keys out of her pocket, she lifted up onto her tiptoes and pecked his cheek before walking to the front door of the building. “Don’t forget to be here first thing tomorrow morning, Finn. If you’re late, the deal is off.”
A little surprised by her words, Finn looked at her with slightly wide eyes. But she she started giggling and shook her head.
“I’m kidding. But try not to be too late if you are.”
He laughed and nodded before lifting his hand to wave at her.
“Okay. I promise I’ll be here tomorrow first thing. See you later. “
“Bye!”
Once she’d waved at him and walked into the building, he stood there like an idiot with a grin on his face. Things just felt good and, even if he had to wake up kind of early the next morning, he was looking forward to it.
Ship/Character: Finn, Brittany (appearances and mentions of various characters and pairings)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,685
A/N: Slight AU future fic with few spoilers. / Also available at FF.net here.
Finn laughed softly when Brittany reached across the table and pinched off a piece of his peanut butter cookie. It was cool that she wasn’t afraid to act a little silly even if they were both supposed to be adults now. He was still having some trouble with that concept himself.
“Thank you!” Brittany winked playfully at him once she popped the piece of cookie into her mouth.
Hanging out with he was even better than he’d expected and it made him wonder why they’d never hung out in high school. Aside from a really terrible date with her and Santana, he’d never really seen the girl outside of school or New Directions and they had kind of been part of the popular crowd together for a while. It probably had a lot to do with him being involved with Quinn and Rachel and all the drama surrounding that for a while. But sitting across from her at a small table at a cafe down the street from the dance studio, he realized just how interesting and cool she was to talk to. Talking to her felt easy and almost like they’d been friends who had actually been talking for years. They’d already been there for an hour and hadn’t even gotten that far into their conversation. So far, all they’d talked about was how they were both single and he knew that she’d been in New York for exactly ten months and was very happy that she’d decided to come by herself because it was the first time she felt independent.
How they’d missed each other for almost a year was beyond him, but Finn was glad that finally he’d found out that she was around.
Looking at her, he nodded and asked, “Do you feel independent because your parents aren’t here? I feel that way sometimes.”
Brittany shook her head and furrowed her brow in thought before meeting his eyes.
“When I was with Santana, even though I really felt like I loved her, it was all about her.” She shrugged as she stirred a spoon around in her coffee and looked across the table at him. “Like in high school, she was dealing with liking girls and it was always about whether or not she was ready to really be with me out in the open. And then no one really cared if I graduated, you know? Not even her. It kind of sucked that she didn't even ask if I ever needed help and I know it was kind of obvious."
She shrugged again before a small grin appeared, taking place of the small frown that he been there just moments before. "You saw my square root notes, Finn, the one with the rainbow drawing. You cheated off me."
With her grinning at him, Finn chuckled. "Guilty. It made sense at the time. And the drawings were more interesting than numbers. Math sucks."
Rolling her eyes playfully, Brittany took a small bite of her raspberry muffin. Once she swallowed the bite, she continued, "So once I graduated after you guys, I finally decided that I wanted to be single again and I went to school by myself and figured out everything all on my own.”
Finn could tell just by looking at her eyes that feeling like no one cared had hurt her and in a way he really understood that, too. But she'd done everything alone and succeeded. That was awesome to him. She had become a teacher and was living in New York by herself. She was obviously more independent than she had been in high school. Hell, she was even more independent than him considering how much time he spent at the Puckerman apartment. She seemed to have grown up the way they were all supposed to.
“You did a good job, Britt, doing all of this alone. That’s awesome. I bet your parents are proud.” Nodding slowly, he brought his drink up to his lips and took a long sip before putting it back on the table and saying, “You know, what you were saying about you and Santana not really being about you, it was kind of like that with me and Rach. I mean, I’m happy we tried and we’re totally good friends now and it’s awesome and not even weird or anything, but she was always coming here and I was just kind of being pulled along. There was really nothing I was good at it and I didn’t have a huge dream like she did. It took me awhile to get used to being here and being in college here, but I decided to stay because I like it. I like the city a lot more than I thought I would..” He shrugged and sent her a soft smile. “And they’re kind of my family, especially Caroline. It’d be extremely hard to leave now, you know?”
When Brittany smiled widely and nodded at him, he knew he’d said something right and that made him feel awesome. She’d been making him feel that way since the moment she’d smiled over her shoulder at him in thanks when he held the door open for her once they’d arrived at the cafe.
"Caroline really loves her Uncle Finn," Brittany said with a large smile. "She talks about you a lot more than you probably think. If I ask her what she’s doing when class is over, she gets this excited look on her face and says that she hopes she gets to play with you later. She said tea time was her favorite. She would be sad if you left."
Finn chuckled at the thought, not even a little embarrassed that the woman across from him knew that he played tea with a little girl and her stuffed animals. At least she didn’t know that he had named a lot of them with her.
“I’m not really sure if I ever could.” He shrugged before sighing softly. It was expensive to live in New York. His apartment might not have been the most extravagant, but it still wasn’t cheap and sometimes he barely managed to get by during the month one he’d paid bills and his rent and bought groceries for a couple of weeks. But if he went back to Lima right now without anything to show for it, with his tail between his legs, he would feel like a complete failure. “I’ve been applying to tons of office jobs, but they don’t feel like me, you know? They never hire me anyway.”
A lot of nights, Finn found himself at Puck and Rachel’s house eating dinner with them and coloring with Caroline until it was time for her bath and bedtime. It was nice most of the time, but he didn’t want to be that guy. He wanted his own family one day and he really couldn’t do that if he didn’t even have a way to support himself.
Brittany reached over and placed her hand on top of his. “I’ll help you find the perfect job for you, Finny.” Tilting her head to the side, he was a little distracted by the way she screwed up her nose in thought and he couldn’t even respond. When she looked back at him, she smiled widely. “I think I already have the best idea ever!” He could see the optimism in the way she smiled and hear it in her voice, so he nodded slowly.
“As long as it’s not some dancing job, I think I could try anything.” Smiling back over at her, he nodded again and settled back in his seat. She giggled softly and winked at him before he shook his head. Yeah, there was something about Brittany that made him feel like maybe things in New York were looking up.
Bobbing his head in agreement again, he smiled thankfully over at her. “Thanks, Brittany. I can’t think of anyone else who could help me.”
He had no idea what she had in mind, but he thought she might have understood what he was going through. Now she was a success story, at least in his eyes, and he thought she could definitely help him out. He was up for anything as long as she was by his side throughout it.
“This is my apartment.” Brittany turned her head to look at him as they reached an apartment building he’d walked past a few of the times he had brought or picked Caroline up from dance class and he chuckled.
“Can’t believe this is yours. I had no idea you were in there the whole time.”
Once they’d finished their coffees, they’d sat in the coffee shop for about 30 more minutes before Brittany said that she needed to head home and she wanted to show him where she lived. So he didn’t get lost the next day, she said, and he was totally up for walking her and making sure that she got home alright. It was already pretty dark by the time they were finished and he didn’t want to walk alone.
“Thanks for walking me home,” she said, snapping him out of his thoughts and removing her arm from his. Taking her keys out of her pocket, she lifted up onto her tiptoes and pecked his cheek before walking to the front door of the building. “Don’t forget to be here first thing tomorrow morning, Finn. If you’re late, the deal is off.”
A little surprised by her words, Finn looked at her with slightly wide eyes. But she she started giggling and shook her head.
“I’m kidding. But try not to be too late if you are.”
He laughed and nodded before lifting his hand to wave at her.
“Okay. I promise I’ll be here tomorrow first thing. See you later. “
“Bye!”
Once she’d waved at him and walked into the building, he stood there like an idiot with a grin on his face. Things just felt good and, even if he had to wake up kind of early the next morning, he was looking forward to it.