Rachel Berry did not expect her wedding day to go like this...
They both left each other at the altar.
Rachel left a note, of course. But when she saw Thad sneaking out of the church in his tuxedo, she knew that he had done the same thing. But he had the foresight to bring a bag containing a change of clothes with him, which was more than Rachel had thought to do.
So yeah. She was sitting on a bench in Central Park in what had to be the biggest, puffiest wedding dress in the history of forever.
(Yes, it was puffy, not poofy. Rachel didn't know how she let herself be talked into that dress in the first place.)
This wasn't exactly how she imagined her wedding day going. And it wasn't even because she had left her supposed-to-be husband at the altar. It all started with the planning—four hundred guests, interviews with national magazines, appointments with designer dress makers, hours upon hours of comparing the differences between cream and off-white.
Rachel supposed that was what she got for getting engaged to some New York City high society boy. The further they got into the planning, the more Rachel realized this was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Instead of a ceremony in a big cathedral (Thad's family was devoutly Catholic. Or at least, they acted like they were), Rachel realized she wanted a ceremony outside. She imagined having a reception under a big white tent as opposed to the one that was being planned in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. She wanted pretty wild flowers instead of roses that looked too perfect. And they had ordered vanilla cake with citrus icing when all Rachel wanted was chocolate.
This wedding hadn't been her own, and Rachel knew when she was freaking out five minutes before she was supposed to walk down the aisle that she couldn't do this.
She was only getting a few odd looks from people walking by her. Rachel guessed that was one of the perks of living in New York City—people were used to seeing odd things such as some random girl sitting on a park dress in a sparkly wedding dress.
Rachel sighed heavily and ran her fingers through what was left of her expensive updo. In her haste to get out of the church, she left her wallet and her cellphone. It wasn't like she could return to her apartment, because she was certain that everyone would be there already. Maybe she could go to the hotel where she and Thad were supposed to spend their wedding night. She doubted that he would have gone there, anyway. Then Rachel could figure out where to go from there…
Rachel was pulled from her thoughts when a startlingly familiar voice said her name.
"Rachel Berry?"
Rachel froze. Really, this was just the icing on the cake. She hadn't seen this man in seven years, so naturally she would run into him on the day she left her now ex-fiancé at the altar.
It was Finn Hudson.
....
"Rachel, you're… uh… you're wearing a wedding dress."
Rachel barked out a humorless laugh and tried to ignore the look of surprise on Finn's face. He wasn't used to hearing her laugh without happiness, and Rachel tried to ignore the fact that he was still very aware of that even after seven years apart.
