Chapter 1:

A Close Brush With Death

Finn Hudson smiled as he walked through the produce aisle of the local Food Lion with his grocery cart. All around him, he could see the signs of yet another normal summer Wednesday morning at the grocery store in Lima, Ohio. From the customers walking around in search of the groceries they'd come to buy, to the cashiers at the checkout lines calmly awaiting the customers at their cash registers for the money that would inevitably be handed over in payment, everyone in the grocery store was doing exactly what would be expected of them at a grocery store. "Including myself," he thought to himself as he grabbed a bag of green seedless grapes and placed it in his cart with the rest of his groceries.

With the grapes in his cart, Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out his grocery list. Going over the different items he'd circled on his list, he compared his indicated inventory on the list with what he had in his cart, and smiled as he saw that he'd now gotten everything he currently needed to buy from the store that day. Smiling, he folded the list back up, placed it back into his pocket, and started pushing his grocery cart out of the produce aisle as he set off towards the checkout lines.

As he calmly headed over towards the checkout lines, Finn couldn't help but grin and rub his fingers through his dark brown hair as he thought of how much his life was now so successful and filled with happiness for him these days. He remembered so clearly how he had been nervous and unsure of what he'd do with his life after graduating from high school during his senior year at William McKinley High School. If he could have met his past self right at that moment, he would have been happy to reassure him about how well his life would turn out in the future. Admittedly, his life after graduating, and even before graduating, had not always been easy, or joyful. However, in the end, he had to admit that he was doing quite well.

Ever since he'd graduated at the top of his class from the University of Lima, he had eagerly set out into the world with his teaching degree at the ready. Within days, he had scored a post as American Literature teacher at the Lima Senior High School. In the many months that had followed, he couldn't have been happier in his new job. He couldn't believe just how much he'd enjoyed teaching his many students. In fact, even he himself found it hard to believe just how popular he'd turned out to be among the students, and even the faculty. He smiled, and shook his head side to side in disbelief. He sure was one lucky man.

Seconds later, right as Finn was a few steps away from the nearest checkout line, he suddenly heard a song coming from the radio that made him halt in his tracks. He listened intently at the music. "It can't be," he whispered under his breath. But it was. It was none other, than the Journey classic, Don't Stop Believing. As the song continued to play, Finn could only stand where he was in shock as he listened to the song that had become such an important part of his life; and as he listened, his mind instantly traveled back to the most recent time he'd listened to that very song before this very day.

. . . . .

(Flashback)

It was the very last day of school that year, and Finn was in his class room packing his things up to go home. He smiled as he thought of the last few hours he'd spent with his students before they left high school for the last time that school year. He already knew that he would enjoy his next year of teaching at this school, just like he had at the end of the last four years he'd taught at Lima Senior High.

Right as Finn finished packing and was about to sling his work bag and laptop case over his shoulder, he heard a voice behind him say, "Excuse me, could I speak with you for a few minutes?" Finn turned his head and saw a boy of about 14 to 15 years old standing in the doorway to the classroom. At the sight of the boy, Finn took in the ivory skin, golden blonde hair, and icy blue eyes, and smiled as he recognized the boy as Lucas Rhodes. Lucas had been at the top of all his classes, especially in American Literature. In fact, Finn had to admit that Lucas was quite honestly one of his favorite students. Finn couldn't have been prouder when he'd learned that Luke had successfully passed his sophomore year with flying colors. In fact, the only person who'd been prouder than Finn, was Luke's mother, April, who'd already made a big name for herself as an actress and had not let any of the negative events from her past, least of all her unexpectedly becoming a mother or her divorce from her husband after Luke's birth, hold her back.

Smiling still, Finn beckoned for Luke to come closer. "Good afternoon Luke! How is everything?"

Luke walked into the classroom and stopped when he was just a few footsteps away from Finn. Luke nervously looked towards the door to the classroom and asked, "Could you close the door?"

Concerned, Finn walked over to the doorway, closed the door, and walked back to his desk. Sitting at his desk, Finn gestured for Luke to sit in front of his desk. Luke promptly dragged his desk over towards the desk and sat down facing Finn.

Finn leaned towards the young boy, his concern clearly showing, and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Luke nodded, and said, "Have I ever told you about how I'm a very close friend of Mara's?"

Finn nodded, for he himself had seen Luke hanging out with Mara Hanlon around the school. From what he'd seen, it had been easy for him to guess that the two were very close friends.

Luke took a deep breath, and continued, "Well, I think I might have romantic feelings for her." At the sound of these words, Finn smiled.

However, Luke wasn't finished yet, and he continued, "It started last Saturday when we were hanging out together at my house. Well ok, I know we'd done that sort of thing ever since we first became friends without anything out of the ordinary happening. But last Saturday, we were sitting in the living room of my house watching The Lion King, and at one point, Mara held my hand. I was surprised, and when I looked at her afterward, she made such a happy smile at me that I felt like I wanted to kiss her."

Finn smiled, and said, "Luke, I am so proud of you. I couldn't think of a more perfect person for you to spend the rest of your life with. But why did you want to talk to me about this right now?"

Luke looked nervously around the room as if he were expecting something terrible to happen at any moment.

Finn noticed this, and calmly said to Luke, "Luke, you can trust me. I won't let anything hurt you. Just tell me. If you need help with this, I'm more than willing to provide it."

Luke looked into his teacher's dark brown eyes and saw the sincerity in them. "He's right," Luke thought to himself "I can trust him." Seconds later, after a brief hesitation, Luke said "Well, I've never really felt this way for anyone before. I mean, surely you'd understand that it is a bit difficult to come to terms with your first crush." Finn nodded in agreement, for he knew exactly what Luke meant.

Luke continued by saying, "However, I've also noticed that Tyler Landon has been spending a lot of time with her over the last few months, and I'm not sure if it's worth the risk to tell her about my feelings. I mean, come on, he's the freaking quarterback. Surely there's no way a nerdy scholar like me can possibly compare to a guy like him? Is there?"

Finn gently placed his right hand on Luke's shoulder, and replied, "Luke you have perfectly good chances of being Mara's boyfriend just as much as Tyler. Next time you see Mara, just go ahead and tell her. If she's truly your friend, she'll almost certainly accept your feelings and maybe even love you back. Who knows, she might very well be dying to hear you tell her that you love her."

Luke nodded, but then stated, "I know, but still, what if she doesn't? She's one of the only friends I have ever had here, and if she doesn't love me back, then my loving her might freak her out, and I don't want our friendship to end like that."

Finn replied, "Come on Luke, she's your best friend. Do you really think that she'd do something that drastic over you telling her that you love her?"

Luke thought to himself for a few minutes, and eventually replied, "I guess she wouldn't. Still, what about Tyler? I've seen the way he's looked at her, and he's an awful lot bigger and stronger than me. If I tell Mara that I love her and he turns out to be in love with her as well, he might very well become my enemy, and I'm not sure if he's the kind of guy that I want to get on the bad side of. In fact, that's why I waited till now to tell you about this, because at this time, I know that he won't be here to overhear."

Finn nodded, for he certainly understood what Luke was saying. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, "Luke, I understand that you're afraid, but sometimes, all you need is thirty seconds of insane courage, and you'd be surprised at the things you can do. Tell me, just how strong are your feelings for Mara?"

Luke replied without hesitation, "Like I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I feel as if I would do anything to protect her, even if it meant jumping in front of a bullet. Whenever I'm around her, I feel so happy, so good inside, that I never want the feeling to end. Whenever she's sad, I feel sad to, and whenever she laughs, I feel as if I'm flying, and with wings too, not the crap that airplanes do; I just feel that happy around her."

Finn immediately responded, "Then that's what you need to tell her. The next time you see her, just tell her how you feel, and if she accepts your feelings, go ahead and invite her to go to Breadstix with you for dinner."

Luke thought to himself for a few minutes, and eventually responded, "Well, I guess I could try, but I'm not sure if I'll have the courage to do this. What if I say it wrong? What if Tyler's there? I don't know if I can do this Mr. Hudson."

Finn sighed, for Luke had brought up a valid point. Seconds later, Finn suddenly came up with an idea. He reached down for his laptop case, got out his laptop, and turned it on. Within minutes, he had gone onto YouTube and found just the right video he needed.

Seconds later, after turning up the volume as high as he could, he said to Luke, "Luke, I want you to listen to this. I think that this might be just the song you need to listen to." Immediately after this, with Luke's attention fixed intently towards Finn and the laptop, Finn clicked on the link for the mp3 recording of Journey's Don't Stop Believing.

For the entire duration of the song, Finn and Luke listened intently to the music. As Luke listened he thought of how appropriately it applied to how he needed to believe in himself and in the strength of his friendship with Mara as well as that of his feelings for her. However, as Finn listened, he suddenly found himself thinking of all the time he'd spent with his numerous friends in glee club back when he was in high school as well as during his first few years after graduating.

As Finn thought about his many wonderful experiences with his friends in glee club, he thought about all his many friends and remembered how much they'd all seemed like family to him. As he remembered each different friend from glee club, he found himself closer to tears as he thought of how each of them had all moved on in their lives in their own special ways after their days in high school were over. However, he finally found himself having no choice but to start crying when he thought about Rachel Berry, his former fiancé who was even now one of the most famous Broadway actresses in the entire world just like she'd always dreamed of, and how he himself had let her go so that he wouldn't hold her back from her biggest dream apart from having him as her husband. Before long, he was no longer even listening to the music coming from his laptop as he thought of how long it had been since he and all the other members of the glee club had all been together. The last time they'd all been together at the same place at the same time was when they'd all watched Rachel at her first big performance in Broadway. At the time, she had been playing the part of Fanny Brice in the newly revived Broadway classic, Funny Girl. He remembered clearly how euphoric he'd felt while watching his long-time love interest perform her heart out on the stage, and how he'd cheered and clapped as enthusiastically as he could whenever the situation demanded for cheering and clapping. Now, listening to Don't Stop Believing, he realized just how much he truly missed her and all his other friends in the New Directions glee club.

When the song finally ended, Luke clapped and cheered. As he did this, Luke thought, "That's it. I am going to invite Mara over to my house again tonight, and I am going to follow Mr. Hudson's advice and tell her how I feel." Luke was just about to jump up from his desk and head out to the parking lot of the school when he realized that he needed to thank Mr. Hudson. He looked straight towards his teacher to thank him, and his eyes opened wide with shock when he saw his teacher crying his eyes out. Stunned by the sight, he asked, "Mr. Hudson, are you ok?"

Finn looked up; his eyes still wet, saw Luke looking at him with surprise and concern, and sniffed before wiping his eyes and responding, "I'm fine. I was just . . . thinking of my friends."

Luke made a silent 'oh' with his mouth, and sat in his desk in silence for a few seconds as he let the information sink in. Eventually, he said, "You miss them don't you?"

Finn looked up and asked, "How did you . . . ?"

Luke responded, "Come on Mr. Hudson, you talk about them all the time, and you just now started crying while listening to a song that you yourself said that you once performed with some of them in high school."

When Finn heard this, he realized that Luke was right. He truly did miss his friends from the glee club. Seconds later, Luke said, "If you miss your friends that much, then why don't you invite them to come over to Lima?"

Finn almost immediately responded, "What? I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"They wouldn't be able to come! They're too busy with their own lives now! They don't have time to let the past hold them back!"

"How do you know?" Luke responded back. "There's nothing wrong with inviting them all to come here for a New Directions reunion. Besides, even if they can't come here in person, you could at least talk to them on the phone and invite them. For all you know, they might very well be feeling exactly the same way you're feeling right now."

Finn was about to respond to this when he realized that, once again, Luke was right. He thought to himself about the matter. He had never before even thought about inviting his friends back over to Lima to hang out with him. As he thought about the idea, he realized with a start just how much the idea appealed to him. As he continued to think about it, he wondered if he truly could see his friends again that easily. Oh how he hoped that it was that easy. Still, he knew it would probably be a good idea to at least have some time to think about it and consider it some more before inviting them all over to Lima for a New Directions reunion.

Eventually, he looked back at Luke and said, "You know what, I think you're right."

Luke immediately responded, "Then do it! Invite all of your glee club friends over! Do anything you want! Nothing's gonna stop you!"

Finn said, "Calm down dude. I still need some time to think about it."

"Oh . . . right," Luke said in response. "You're right, I did kind of bring this on you out of the blue. You can take all the time you need. I'm just excited at the idea of you hanging out with all your friends and being happy."

Finn smiled, and responded, "I know. I understand. Thank you."

Luke smiled back, and replied, "Your welcome. In fact, I was about to thank you as well."

Finn, still smiling, responded, "Your welcome, I was happy to help. I wish you luck."

Luke grinned, stood up, and said, "Thank you. You're the best teacher ever," before picking up his backpack and walking out the door. As he left the classroom, he turned his head and yelled, "See you later Mr. Hudson!" before turning his head back away and running down the hall towards the door way of the school leading to the parking lot. As Finn watched Luke getting picked up by his mother soon afterward, Finn smiled once again, happy to see his favorite student on his way to pursue a very big dream.

. . . . .

Exactly one month later, as Finn stood there by his grocery cart at the Food Lion, listening to Don't Stop Believing, Finn remembered his little discussion with Luke the other day and also the very same memories that had brought him to tears that day. As he had the thought, he thought to himself, "Maybe I should invite some of my friends from New Directions over to Lima. It certainly has been a while since I last saw them."

Finn was abruptly jarred out of his reverie when he heard a familiar voice call out from behind him, "Hey there Mr. Hudson! How's everything going?"

Finn turned his head and saw none other than Luke standing behind him. Standing right next to Luke, was a girl about Luke's age that Finn instantly recognized as Mara. Behind the two teenagers, was an attractive blonde woman that Finn was pleased to recognize as Luke's mother April.

Smiling, Finn said, "Hello there! Wasn't expecting to see you here!"

Luke smiled back, and responded enthusiastically, "Neither was I! But I'm glad you're here! I wanted to thank you for helping me out the other day!"

"That you certainly did," April said in agreement with her son before looking at Finn and saying, "I had a feeling that you were the 'Mr. Hudson' that my son keeps on talking about."

Finn smiled, and responded, "Thanks. It's a pleasure to have your son as one of my students Ms. Rhodes."

April smiled, and said, "I'll bet it is. Speaking of which, it is just as much a pleasure for me to be seeing you after all these years. Will and Emma talk about you and your friends from the glee club all the time."

Finn's already large smile grew immense, and he asked, "Really?"

"You bet they do," April replied. "I'll bet they'll get a kick out of this when I tell them that I ran into you at Food Lion today." No sooner had April said this, when she leaned over and said to Luke, "Alright Luke, I'm going to go checkout now. You and Mara can stay here and talk to Mr. Hudson while you're waiting. I'll call you over when I'm done ok?"

"You got it mom," Luke replied with a smile. Smiling, April acknowledged what her son had said, said goodbye to Finn, and headed off to the checkout lines.

The minute April took her place in the line, Finn said to Luke, "I see that you and Mara are together."

Luke smiled, and responded, "That we are! I can't thank you enough!"

Mara smiled, her dark eyes agleam with pleasure, and said, "You can say that again Luke! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to admit that you loved me."

Luke rolled his eyes and replied jokingly, "And how many times have you said that now? A hundred? Two hundred? Oh I remember now! This is the second time!"

Mara laughed and tossed her curly shoulder-length red hair over her shoulder before turning back to Finn and saying, "Anyway, now that I'm thinking about it, I'd like to thank you as well. After all, if it hadn't been for you, Luke would never have had the courage to admit his feelings for me and I would have been forced to accept that stuck-up brute, Tyler's, proposal for me to be his girlfriend when he asked me to go to Breadstix with him for dinner last Sunday."

Finn smiled, for he was certainly glad that Mara had been spared from such a fate when she and Luke were so obviously made for each other. He then said, "So, what happened when he learned about the thing going on between you two?"

Mara chuckled, and said, "Oh you should have seen the look on his face! He was furious when Luke and I told him that we were already dating."

Luke said, "I still think we should be careful about this matter. With the look he had in his eyes when he found out about us, I wouldn't be all that willing to underestimate him."

Mara looked back at Luke and replied, "It's ok Luke, everything will be fine. Honestly, there's no reason to worry about him as far as I can tell."

Finn chuckled, and chimed in, "She is right Luke. I mean come on, what's he gonna do? Come after you with a shot gun?"

Unfortunately, the instant Finn said this, the peaceful atmosphere was abruptly shattered with the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

Finn reared up with a jolt, horrified by the sound. After what seemed like an eternity, his ears started ringing with the sound of all the people in the store screaming as the gun was heard going off outside the store two more times.

Suddenly, he heard an inarticulate howl of rage, and he turned his head towards the door just in time to see a burly teenage boy with glossy black hair styled in a buzz cut burst his way through the glass sliding doors without even bothering to wait for them to open automatically. His face was contorted in a furious snarl, and a large AK-47 assault rifle was clutched tightly in his hands with a vice-like grip. Finn gaped in shock at the boy. With one look, the boy was easily recognizable as Tyler Landon. As Finn gazed at the enraged student, he remembered his experiences with Tyler as his student. Despite Tyler's undeniable natural talent as the quarterback in the football team, his less than stellar academic work combined with his bullying attitude had continuously made him one of Finn's most troublesome students. However, he had still not expected that Tyler would go so far as to burst into a grocery store with a rifle and try to kill one of his fellow students.

Tyler snarled, and yelled, "You think this is scary? I'll show you some sheer terror!" before firing off a series of rapid shots in random directions. Within seconds, pandemonium ensued as all the innocent people stampeded in all directions to try to avoid the mad shooter. Tyler watched the scene unfolding around him, and smiled arrogantly. "Serves them right," he thought to himself. "About time these people learned who's in charge around here." Immediately after he had this thought, he looked up, and saw Luke and Mara standing a few meters in front of him, paralyzed with horror. At the sight of his rival for Mara's affections, Tyler growled angrily like a dog, and aimed his gun straight at Luke's heart.

In a flash, right as Tyler was about to open fire at Luke, Finn charged straight on towards Tyler and yelled, "No!" before lunging into Tyler and sending him off balance right as he fired. The bullet soared harmlessly through the air and struck one of the overhanging lights. Sparks flew wildly from the lamp.

For a few seconds, Finn and Tyler struggled furiously. Eventually, Tyler nailed Finn in the chest with a stomp kick, sending the teacher stumbling backwards. As Finn swayed around off balance, Tyler quickly got his rifle back into position and fired at Finn. The bullet struck Finn right in the right side of his abdomen, point blank. Finn fell to the floor and screamed in agony as he felt the hot blood pour from the wound.

Tyler lowered his gun, snarled at the prone form lying down in front of him, and said, "I'll deal with you later," before he suddenly heard footsteps running towards him. Without thinking, he turned and fired a hurried shot without bothering to check where he was aiming. The bullet hit Luke in the ankle as he was running towards the two figures, and he fell down on his hands and knees, howling in pain. Tyler roared in anger, pointed his gun at the area between Luke's eyes, and hissed in derision, "This ends, now."

However, right as Tyler was about to pull the trigger, Mara yelled, "No!" and threw herself at him. She crashed into Tyler with all her weight and sent him flying down onto his side. The gun flew out of Tyler's hands and landed on the floor, causing it to go off and send Finn's grocery cart skidding around in circles. For a few minutes, Tyler and Mara wrestled furiously with a vengeance. Tyler could only snarl in irritation and try his best to shield himself as Mara mercilessly punched, kicked, bit, and scratched at him. Eventually, Tyler punched Mara in the face and sent her falling down on her back. The instant Tyler found himself free from Mara, he hurried over to get his gun. Mara grabbed him by the ankle right as he was running past her and he fell flat on his face. Unfortunately, he had landed with the gun in his reach, and he grabbed it. Immediately afterward, Tyler swung it over his shoulder and slammed it down on Mara's head, causing her to let go of his ankle.

Furious, and feeling betrayed, Tyler stood up and aimed his gun straight at the top of Mara's head before saying, "I would have preferred to leave you alive, but now you've given me no choice." Having said this, Tyler prepared once again to pull the trigger of his gun.

Fortunately for Mara, Tyler had completely forgotten about Luke in his rage, and Luke had now sufficiently recovered enough to barrel straight towards the bloodthirsty psychopath. With a roar of rage, he slammed himself into Tyler shoulder-first, sending the two boys hurtling to the side. Tyler attempted to maneuver his gun into a position from which he could shoot Luke, but Luke grabbed the rifle and wrenched it out of Tyler's hands before slamming it down on his knee and breaking it in half.

Tyler, now outraged beyond reason by how his plans were now failing, swung his fist towards Luke's face in a powerful roundhouse. Luke blocked the punch with his raised arm and kicked Tyler in the chest, sending the burly boy flying backward. Tyler stumbled back a few paces before eventually regaining his footing and running straight back towards Luke. In a flash, right as Luke was getting ready to punch Tyler, Tyler grabbed Luke's fist and swung his rival right over him before slamming Luke down hard on the floor. Luke recovered quickly, and with a swing of his left leg, he swept Tyler's legs out from under him and sent him crashing down on his back even harder then Luke himself had been slammed.

No sooner had Tyler been subdued in this way, when Luke got up on his feet with great effort, hopped up onto Tyler and rammed his fist down onto Tyler's face. Tyler gasped in shock and pain as Luke's fist slammed down on his face, and Luke, enraged started viciously punching Tyler in the face again and again while shouting, "Stop!" repeatedly.

Seconds later, Mara ran up to Luke, put her hands on his shoulders, and said, "Luke stop! It's ok. He's done." Luke looked at Mara, saw the pleading in her eyes, and reluctantly lowered his fist. Tyler looked up towards his rival, just in time to see Luke grab him by the lapel and drag him up onto his feet.

Luke snarled at Tyler, and whispered under his breath, "You will rue this day for the rest of your life," before punching the hulking boy in the jaw with a powerful right hook, knocking him out. No sooner had Tyler slumped over unconscious, when a squadron of security officers came rushing over. Two of the officers grabbed Tyler by the shoulders and dragged him away after Luke let go, another group of them went off to cordon the site off, and the rest spread out to see if all the innocent civilians were ok.

The instant April saw her son standing where he was with one leg bleeding, she ran over to him and squeezed him tightly in a hug. "Oh God, I'm so glad you're ok," she said with a sob as she embraced her son.

Luke responded, "It's ok mom. I'm fine. We all are now."

Mara immediately joined in the hug, and said to Luke, "You were so brave Luke. If he had killed you, I would have never forgiven myself."

Luke sniffed, and reassured her that everything would be fine.

Seconds later, one of the security officers walked over to the three embracing people and asked Luke to get down so he could examine his ankle. "I'm fine for now," Luke said before pointing at Finn and saying, "But he needs urgent medical help right now."

The officer looked in the direction that Luke was pointing, saw Finn lying down on his back in a pool of blood and howling in agony, and promptly turned his head to his fellow officers before yelling, "Someone call 911!"

Meanwhile, Finn could only lie down on the floor in agony, helpless as the blood continued to pour from the wound in his abdomen. He didn't even notice when the security officers gently picked him up and carried him outside the store. He didn't notice when the police arrived, stuffed the unconscious Tyler in the police cruiser and drove off to bring him to the precinct. Nor did he notice when the ambulance arrived and he was laid down on a gurney and rolled into the ambulance before the ambulance driver revved up the engine and started on his way to the hospital. He didn't even notice when Luke and Mara came up to him and did their best to reassure him that everything would be fine before Luke was eventually coaxed into sitting down so that a paramedic could examine his ankle. All Finn could feel was the blazing pain throughout his body. All he could see were hazy images of his friends swimming before his eyes. All he could hear was the imaginary sound of their voices shouting and begging for him to hang on and to stay alive. In that moment, as all this was happening, Finn thought to himself, "No, I will not die. Not like this. Not without saying a proper goodbye to my friends," before he eventually blacked out, and there was nothing but darkness and pain.