Author's Note: Well, here's my new Glee story! I couldn't resist posting it a little early. This is a little different from anything else I've done before. It'll probably take a few chapters before we get into the main part of the story, but I'm really excited for this. Don't hate for the weird pairing you're going to see; I just thought it would work best with this story. This story title is from "All the Same" by the Sick Puppies. This chapter title is from "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

August 2008

Rachel Berry stood up and swiped her bangs back from her eyes after she put a large box down. It was seriously a pain to carry those boxes up three flights of stairs, but it was definitely worth it. She was finally at NYADA, her dream school. She was three days away from officially starting her freshman year of college, and everything was perfect.

"Rachel!"

She turned to find her stepsister struggling with another box. Rachel quickly rushed to help Quinn Fabray, holding the door open for her. Quinn gave her a thankful smile as she shuffled in and put the box on the floor.

"I don't know where Puck and Finn are. They were supposed to come help me move you in today."

Quinn was going into her junior year at Yale. She had met Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman her freshman year at a party, and they had all quickly become friends. Puck and Finn were both firefighters and were best friends. Finn had just recently started dating Quinn, and this was the first time that Rachel, her mother, and Quinn's father would be meeting him.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't seen a tall, pale man or a man with a Mohawk, as Quinn had described. "I haven't seen either of them. But have you seen my mom and Russell?"

Quinn sat on the corner of Rachel's new bed. "They're downstairs. They should be up soon, though."

Rachel's parents, Shelby and Hiram Berry, had divorced when Rachel was only five years old. Her father, it turned out, was gay, and had been with his partner Leroy since she was six. Rachel had a fabulous relationship with both her daddy and Leroy, whom she called Papa.

When Rachel was eight, Shelby had met Russell Fabray. He was a widower with a ten year old daughter, and it wasn't long before the two were engaged. Rachel and Quinn got along wonderfully, and it really felt like they were sisters, despite how different they were.

There was a knock on the door, and Rachel turned to find a man with a Mohawk there—he must have been Noah Puckerman. Quinn beamed when she caught sight of him and jumped up, flouncing over to him. She gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Rachel, this is Noah Puckerman," the blonde introduced.

Puck rolled his eyes. "Q, you know I prefer Puck."

Rachel wrinkled her nose. "What kind of name is Puck? It's like the fairy from A Midsummer's Night Dream."

"I'm not a fucking fairy," Puck said. "Jeeze, Quinn. Where'd she come from?"

Rachel gasped at his little jab and opened her mouth to retort, but Quinn beat her to it. She playfully pushed Puck's chest. "Be nice, Puck. That's my little sister. Where is Finn?"

"Hudson is helping his stepbrother move in," Puck explained. "He should be here soon, though."

Quinn took Puck's hand and pulled him towards the door. Rachel watched the interaction with an interested look on her face, but she didn't say anything. Quinn smiled at her sister over her shoulder and pointed out into the hallway.

"Puck and I are going to find Dad and Shelby. You just stay here and start setting up." She wiggled her fingers at Rachel before she and Puck disappeared completely. Rachel watched them go down the hallway before she busied herself with unpacking her things. Her phone buzzed every now and then with updates from her best friend, Santana Lopez. She was at NYU, and she was already making plans to meet up with Rachel later.

About ten minutes passed before Rachel decided she should check up on her mother, stepfather, and stepsister. She was tired of waiting for them, and they still had so many things that they needed to bring up. Looking down at her phone, Rachel walked out of her room and into the hallway.

She gasped when she slammed into a hard body. She hit the person with so much force that she stumbled backwards. Before she could completely fall, however, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upwards.

"Hey there. Are you okay?"

Rachel found herself staring into the most gorgeous pair of amber eyes and an adorable half smile. She blinked and scrambled for her words, attempting to make her verbal centers work. She bit her lip and straightened her shirt out.

Finally, Rachel found her words. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to bump into you like that."

His grin was easy. "It's okay. Are you moving in?"

Rachel pointed to the room behind her. "Yes. Are you?" She really hoped that he was. He was really very attractive, and her heart was speeding up just by looking at him.

"I'm not, actually. I'm helping my brother move in." He pointed to the room directly across from Rachel's. Just then, a thin, fashionably dressed young man came out of the room. He opened his mouth, but then he caught sight of Rachel.

"Hello! It looks like we're going to be neighbors! But, oh God, why are you wearing a sweater with an owl on it?"

Rachel could only blink at the sudden question. She looked down at her sweater as her cheeks pinked. She realized that it was a bit juvenile, but wearing the sweater had brought her a little bit of comfort. She was moving away from home, after all. College brought a lot of changes and she just wanted something a bit familiar.

The taller man rolled his eyes. "Kurt, relax," he said. "I think her sweater is cute."

Rachel's cheeks flushed again, and she smiled at him. That wonderful half smile was back on his face, and he winked at her. But before anyone could say anything else, Quinn came back down the hall with Puck. Rachel turned to wave at her sister, but she was looking at the men behind her.

"Finn!" Quinn greeted. She hugged the man Rachel had run into and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I see that you've met Rachel already."

Rachel looked between the pair before she said, "This is Finn Hudson?" Her heart dropped in disappointment, and she shook her head. She was being ridiculous. She had just met the guy, and he was dating Quinn. He probably hadn't even been interested in her, anyway.

"Yes it is," Quinn said. "Finn, Kurt, this is my little sister Rachel Berry."

The shorter man grabbed onto Rachel's arm. "I'm Kurt Hummel," he said. "I can't believe that your stepsister is dating my stepbrother and we ended up in rooms across from each other. This is fate, Rachel Berry."

Rachel grinned at him. She had a feeling that she had just found a great friend in Kurt Hummel. As they turned to go into her room, she caught Finn's eye again. He smiled at her.

"He's hot, right?"

Rachel looked up from folding her clothes. "Who's hot?"

Quinn smirked. "Finn."

"Oh. Uh…" Rachel's cheeks flushed. Oh yes, she thought Finn was hot. And gorgeous and sexy and a whole slew of other adjectives. But she wasn't about to share that with her sister. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hmm. Did you like Puck more? He is very sexy, too."

Rachel made a face. Sure, Puck was good looking, but she was in no way attracted to him. She was actually kind of surprised that Quinn would blatantly say that, though. And she definitely didn't miss the way that Quinn described Finn merely as "hot" while she called Puck sexy. In fact, in Rachel's opinion, Finn was definitely sexier. But to each their own, she supposed. "No. Noah is definitely not my type."

Quinn nodded her head. "I don't think the two of you would have meshed well, anyway. Puck has to be handled in a certain way."

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Quinn's comments about Puck, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she said, "Well, Finn seems like a really wonderful man."

June 2009

"So how did your freshman year go?"

Rachel looked up as Finn joined her on the back deck. Her mother and Russell were currently throwing a cookout to celebrate the homecoming of Rachel and Quinn. She smiled at him and stood up, smoothing her sundress out.

"It was fabulous. I had so much fun. I loved rooming across the hall from your brother, by the way."

Finn chuckled. "Kurt certainly is a handful. I apologize for any hurtful things that he's said to you."

Rachel laughed. Kurt certainly had a way about him, and Finn had been dealing with him for far longer than she had. "He does it with love. Did Kurt tell you that he, Santana, and I have rented an apartment together for next year?"

Finn smiled at her. "Yeah, he told me when I got here. That's awesome. Maybe we'll be seeing more of each other."

Rachel blushed under his amber eyed gaze and charming smile. Despite the fact that he was dating her stepsister, they hadn't really seen each other a lot over the past year. Rachel and Quinn always managed to meet up for lunch or dinner at least once a week, but Finn was never really there.

"That would be nice," Rachel said.

They just stood there, smiling at each other for several long moments. Then the moment was broken when the door to the balcony slid open and Kurt came buzzing out. He grinned when he saw the two of them, and there was a twinkle in his eye that made Rachel quite nervous. Usually, it meant that Kurt was up to something when he got that look in his eye.

"There's my darling diva and my wonderful big brother!" Kurt exclaimed as he threw his arms around Finn and Rachel's shoulders. "I've been looking everywhere for the two of you. What are you hiding out here for?"

Finn looked at Rachel over Kurt's head and smiled. "Rach and I were just talking," he said.

Kurt looked pointedly at Rachel over the use of her new nickname. Rachel's cheeks flushed and she refused to make eye contact with Kurt. He smirked. "Oh, well that sounds like so much fun. Listen, Finn, Carole was actually looking for you. She needs you to taste test, or something."

Finn's face lit up at the prospect of his mother's food, causing both Kurt and Rachel to laugh. "I'll see you guys later," he said as he went back into the house.

Rachel watched Finn go; Kurt watched Rachel watch Finn. He shook his head in amusement before clearing his throat loudly, causing Rachel to jump. She whipped towards him, her cheeks flaming bright red.

"Could you be any more obvious?"

Rachel avoided eye contact. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about, missy. You're in love with my older brother!"

"What?" Rachel's cheeks only went redder, which did not help her case at all. And she still refused to look Kurt in the eye. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I'm not in love with Finn!"

"Okay," Kurt said. He cocked an eyebrow. "You're not in love with him. But you definitely have a thing for him!"

"Kurt, that is my sister's boyfriend!" Rachel looked towards the door to make sure that no one could hear them. She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea… or realize that Kurt was completely right. "I would never have a crush on my sister's boyfriend."

"Right. Just keep telling yourself that."

Rachel lifted her chin and put her acting skills to good use. "I think that you're really blowing this out of proportion. Finn and I were just talking. We're barely even acquaintances."

"Oh really?" Kurt crossed his arms and stared Rachel down, but he couldn't keep the note of amusement out of his voice. The whole thing was really very entertaining. "Rachel, dear, you check Finn out whenever he walks into the room. Your face lights up at even the mention of his name. I see you giving him dreamy looks when you think no one else is watching."

Rachel stared at Kurt for a long moment before she finally sighed. There really was no use in hiding it anymore, was there? "Please don't tell anyone," she pleaded. "Finn is Quinn's boyfriend. I wouldn't do that to her."

Kurt wrinkled his nose. "You know that I love Quinn dearly, but I just don't think that she's a good match for my brother." Seeing the look on Rachel's face, he sighed and relented. "Fine. But I'm only doing this for you."

Rachel hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you so much, Kurt," she said sincerely. She really didn't want to cause any trouble. It was just best to ignore her feelings for Finn. He probably didn't even think of her as any more than his girlfriend's little sister/little brother's best friend, anyway.

Kurt smirked as hugged her back before pulling away. "Just know that I'll be there to say 'I told you so' one day. Rachel Berry, you're falling in love with Finn Hudson."

Author's Note: I know that this is slow going so far, but I promise that this story will pick up soon. There will be another chapter of background before we get into the really good stuff. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!