So, I listened to Places and fell in love with Tornado and kind of got the inspiration to write this. One of my fave tropes is a soft love where two people take care of each other and help each other heal and that's what the basic premise of this fic is about. This is also my first ever Glee fic and honestly, I couldn't have chosen a worse time to start writing for Glee but here we are anyway.

I completely stole the carjacking idea from the book/novel Goat plsdontsuemebradland

This is a finchel fic, with platonic furt and pezberry. Trigger warnings (should there be any) will be posted at the start of each chapter, like so;

tw: violence.

It was a party Sam threw at the beginning of summer. He was going to Ohio University at the end of the year. They all were, actually. Finn had a full ride, he had managed to nab a football scholarship and when September rolled around, he was going to be an Ohio Bobcat, along with Sam, Mike, and Artie. They had it all figured out. There was four of them, so naturally, that meant they could have two dorm rooms instead of one and that was more space to get wasted in. They had it planned, Finn was going to share with Sam, Mike with Artie and every weekend, they were going to go to the other guy's dorm room and get drunk. They were going to become their own little fraternity that was just the four of them.

(The idea of joining a fraternity did occur to them but then they heard horror stories of hazing and decided it would be easier for them to simply be the four from McKinley and move on.)

For now, however, they were in Sam's house. He had invited all of the football team, all of the senior Cheerios, some of the hockey guys and even more people Finn had only graced with his presence due to being the quarterback. It was jam packed and it was getting later far quicker than Finn could have possibly processed.

He carried a beer in one hand as Mike dragged him through Sam's house, until they were going upstairs and then they were in Sam's bedroom – his younger sibling's bedroom was supposed to be off limits but Finn could see a slight crack in the door that hadn't been there when the night had begun, telling everyone who looked at it that there was some couple in there making out or worse – and Sam was on his bed with Brittany on his lap. They were making out and his hands are on her ass. Adjacent to the bed, sat Quinn. She was the head cheerleader and president of the celibacy club but Finn could easily dismantle the latter, if he ever told anyone outside of his group of friends that he and Quinn had slept with each other, giving the other their virginity in the process. They broke up a year later and now, she regarded him with cold, almost nostalgic eyes.

"Come to watch?" she asked, her tone condescending.

Finn had his arms crossed over his chest, his beer almost tucked under his arm. "Mhm." he said. "Like you."

Quinn blushed but rolled her eyes. She took a long drink from her beer, looking away from Finn and from Brittany and Sam, to stare out of the window, acting like the Disney princes she thought she was.

"This is like, the ultimate end to any party." Mike said, his arm heavy around Finn's shoulders.

"I thought they'd broken up." Artie said and Finn hadn't even realised that he was in the room with them. He wondered how he'd managed to get away from Tina, his girlfriend, to meet up with them.

"It's for goodbye." Mike said, the tone of his voice suggesting that that was something that was obvious. Duh, was what he wasn't saying. "They're going to different colleges, they're not going to see each other again after the summer ends."

"That's romantic." Artie said, his mind elsewhere. Probably on Tina, who was going to a different college but who wasn't currently making out with him.

"That's dumb." Finn said and he meant it. Ever since he had broken up with Quinn, he'd really taken a defiant stance against relationships. He had said it was because he was over being a relationship man but it was really so that he could protect himself because Quinn had broken his heart, snapped it in two right in front of him.

"You're a bummer." Artie said and used his elbow to hit Finn in the thigh.

Finn didn't react to that but he did look down at Artie then back to Sam and Brittany on the bed. At this point, they were really going for it and Brittany had long since taken on her stripper persona, she lacked the shirt she had come wearing and no one seemed to be complaining. Finn would have liked to have stayed and watched further or got more drunk or found a girl to sleep with himself but it was late and he was conscious of some kind of feeling building up in his chest.

"I'm gonna go." he announced.

"What?" Mike asked. "What the hell? It's still early."

"It's almost three in the morning." Finn told him.

"That's early." Mike shrugged.

"Don't be lame." Artie chimed in.

"I'm not," Finn said. "I'm going home. This party was fun but it's boring now."

"Whatever." Mike said and he crossed the room, to sit on the desk next to Quinn. She looked at him, scowled, and then turned back to the couple on the bed.

Finn shook his head lightly as he set his beer down on the nearest set of drawers and, as he was about to leave, he was stopped when Artie hit his arm. It was a light tap but not so light that he didn't feel it. Finn was beginning to become conscious of what he could and couldn't feel.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Artie asked. He was always more careful than the rest of them.

"I'm good." Finn said. "I've got the car and I've only had like, two beers."

"Alright." Artie said with a nod. "Drive carefully."

"I will." Finn said.

He managed to escape the bedroom then, weaving through the crowded house until he was in the garden, then in the street. It was dark outside and the streets were only illuminated by the nearby street lamps. Finn fished the keys of his car from his pocket as he neared it. He'd gotten the car for his birthday. His mother, Carole, and step-father, Burt, had saved up for almost two years to get him it and Finn was proud of it. It was a sleek white colour and it looked far more expensive than any of the cars parked around Sam's house. He wasn't going to leave it here over night. He didn't trust anyone, despite this being an overall good neighbourhood.

The car was in his sights, his fingers wrapped tightly around the keys, and he was planning on what he would do when he got home. He'd apologise to Kurt for being so loud and then he'd stumble up to bed and not bother to get changed before he flopped into the bed. He'd sleep until the afternoon and then wake up with a small hangover, to which his mother would make him her remedy of bacon and eggs, and it would be a normal Saturday.

It would be a normal Saturday and -

"Hey man," someone called out from the darkness. "Do you mind giving me a ride?"

Finn stopped dead in his tracks. He paused before he looked over and saw a tall lanky kid on the street corner. He wore a dark hoodie, zipped all the way up, and it seemed like he was on some type of stimulant. He couldn't stand still and he kept looking around. He kind of looked like some kind of human prairie dog.

"Um," Finn knew it wasn't the best idea. Who just gave random, probably drunk, strangers rides? "I don't know man."

The guy got closer and Finn noticed that he was rubbing his hands together. "Please?"

"Uh," Finn shook his head. He was tipsy, he'd had more than the two beers he'd said he had and he didn't want to be the reason someone's son didn't come home. "I don't think so."

"It's just, my friend and I," the guy began to explain. "We live a little bit away from here, not too far, and he got really drunk. He's the designated driver and we don't have any other way to get home."

Finn wasn't sure what to make of that but there was a lot of drinking going on at the party. There was definitely people who were far more drunk than he was, so make sense that this guy's friend was plastered. He decided then, that it wouldn't be a bad idea. These guys were doing the right thing by approaching him and not just driving home anyway and Finn knew better than most people that getting a cab home would cost a fortune.

"Okay." he nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll drive you. This is my car here."

"Thank you." The guy said with a nod. "Let me go get my friend."

"Sure." Finn said.

As the guy turned to go, Finn went to his car and opened the door, getting in the driver's seat. He slotted the key in the ignition and waited, patiently, for the guy and his friend to arrive. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and briefly wondered if this would have gone differently had Artie been here. He was more sensible than Finn and he would have known what the best thing to do in this situation would be.

Finn was then brought out of his almost self deprecating thoughts when he heard the car door open across from him. The first guy got in and Finn noticed that, in the light, there was an ugly mole on the bridge of his nose. If this had been a fairytale, it would probably have a hair growing out of it. Behind him, Mole's friend got into the car and he didn't seem nearly as drunk as Finn had assumed but he did have the most intense eyes Finn had ever seen on another man, so he didn't question it.

Mole prompted him to go down the street and Finn started the car.

"So, how do you guys know Sam?" Finn asked.

They'd been driving for a good ten minutes now and they didn't seem to be getting any close to one these guy's home. Finn was beginning to grow nervous.

"Sam?" Mole asked and Finn glanced at him.

"The guy who's party we were at?" Finn asked, slightly dumbfounded.

"Right," Mole nodded. "We don't. A friend of ours is friends with him and he invited us."

"Oh." Finn said, because that made sense. A part of full of teenagers usually only ended up packed the way Sam's had been when people tell their friends about it. "Cool."

They fell into silence then and Finn realised that they were still driving, still going down an empty road and there was no sign of houses on the horizon. And as they were driving, Finn kept sneaking glances at Eyes in the rear view mirror. For someone who was supposed to be blind drunk, he looked alert, he looked like a dog who had raised it's hackles and was waiting to pounce. Finn could feel himself begin to grow even more nervous. He licked his lips and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"Hey," he said and his voice was weak. "We've been driving for a little while. How much further to your house?"

"It's just up the road." Mole said, pointing up said road.

"Yeah, but like," Finn shrugged. "How long?"

"What?" Mole snapped and Finn felt his nerves get a lot more intense.

"I gotta get home," Finn said. "It's getting late."

"Huh," Mole leaned back in his seat. "I told you. We're almost there."

"We can find a gas station," Finn attempted to compromise. "And you can make your way home from there."

"We're not doing that." Mole said. His voice was harsh, stern.

"Look, I don't feel comfortable -" Finn began.

"Oh, you don't?" Mole spat.

Finn's palms began to get slick with sweat then and he struggled to hold onto the steering wheel. He should have said no and avoided this, he should have said no and not ended up in the middle of nowhere with two guys who definitely seemed way more angry than he had first realised. He should have said no.

"Whatever." Mole said. It was clear he was angry. "Turn here."

Finn looked and saw that there was nothing but a dirt road to turn onto. It might have been a short cut to the street in which one of these guys stayed in but that was a pipe dream, Finn knew he had been asking for too much for that to be true. And despite it all, he had to be sure.

"Here?" he asked, incredulously. "There's nothing here?"

"Do it." Mole snapped.

Finn turned as quickly as he could, the wheels of his new car getting dirty as he travelled along the dirt road. He would have ducked out of the car and ran if he could. He had long legs, longer than those guys, and thanks to his fear sobering him up, he would have been able to get away. But his pride kept him rooted to the spot and he didn't want to leave his car with these guys, as stupid as it sounds. His mother and Burt almost bankrupted themselves gifting it to him. So, he didn't duck and run like he should, he stayed firmly in his seat.

"Stop here." Mole instructed and Finn obeyed instantly.

They sat in silence then, Finn waiting for something to happen. He waited for them to get out of the car and disappear into the darkness that started where the light from the headlights ended. He waited and hoped and had he been religious, he would have prayed. He even wanted someone to say something, to break the tension. He wanted one of these guys to start laughing and tell him that this was some insane prank that Sam, Artie and Mike had pulled on him. That was what he wanted but that wasn't what he was getting. He could feel the fear seep into his bones, tainting his chest and lungs.

"You're an idiot." Mole said and then began to get out of the car.

Finn turned his head to see him, to try and ask him what he meant by that but then he heard shifting from the back seat and then suddenly, Eyes has his arm wrapped around Finn's neck, pressing his back against the seat and somewhat cutting off his air supply. Finn grabbed his arm, his short fingernails digging into the exposed skin but it was no use, he was trapped in his own car by two guys who were – who were -

Holy shit, Finn thinks. I'm being carjacked.

It wasn't a secret that Finn was a little slower than the rest of his grade. He took a little longer to understand things and sometimes large words would go over his head but he was a smart guy, but the kind of smart that marvels at the fact that he's the victim of a carjacking instead of, I don't know, fighting back. He had the height advantage over his attackers and he was a football player, that should have meant that he had a fair chance. But it was still two against one, Finn wouldn't have stood a chance.

And then Mole was at the door, yanking it open so hard it had almost come off it's hinges and he ripped Finn's seatbelt off, before he slammed his fist into his solar plexus. Finn wheezed, the air completely gone from his lungs and Eyes then let go of him just long enough for Mole to grab him but the arm and hair but not long enough for Finn to be able to fight back.

And he was dragged from the car, Mole's hold on his hair began to tug it from his scalp and it hurt but Finn couldn't bring himself to cry or scream in response. Not yet anyway.

He got thrown on the ground then, accented with a dusty thump and the two men, because in the headlights Finn could see that they're not teenagers at all, they're slightly older, in their early to mid twenties, and they both have the look of someone who wants something and it's something that Finn had.

I'm going to die, he thought then.

Mole hit him first. He punched him square in the jaw a couple times and then the tender place between his eye and hair until it was wet and then again and again until Finn can feel the tears in his eyes. He was gasping for air, trying to defend himself but then Mole grabbed him by the wrist, stopping that effort before Finn can ever make it come to fruition.

Once more, Mole grabbed a fistful of his hair, and he dragged Finn up onto his knees and then, as he turned to face his accomplice, he twisted Finn's arm painfully behind his back. The gesture caused bouts of agony to shoot up Finn's arm and Finn could tell that, should Mole have applied a little more pressure or bent a little further, then his arm would have broken.

Eyes came over then and he knelt down in front of Finn. As he did, the white light from the headlights shone directly into Finn's eyes, causing him to squint right at the moment when he felt Eyes reach into each of his pockets – the four on his black skinny jeans, the two on his grey WMHS hoodie – until they found his phone and his bank card. The phone wasn't the best, an old iPhone model with a slightly cracked screen and there was a faded and half scratched off McKinley Titans sticker on the back, cutesy of Brittany. Eyes regarded it for maybe half a second before he threw it into the long grass somewhere on the side of them. It was hone for good.

He then held the bank card up, looking at it in the light provided by the car. Finn could feel bile rising in his throat and there was something warm and wet on his face. There was two things that were warm and wet on his face. There was the blood from the various cuts on his face and the tears that had began to fall a long time ago. He was scared, he was so scared he shook in Mole's grasp and he was sure, so sure, that he was going to die.

"What's the pin number?" Eyes asked then.

His voice was a lot deeper, a lot rougher than Finn had expected but he didn't answer him. He was too scared to. He was scared of what would happen if he told them and what his mother would say if she found out he had told them – if he got out of here alive that was. But because he didn't answer him, Eyes lifted his foot and landed a harsh kick to Finn's jaw. Pain exploded over the area and for a moment, Finn thought his jaw was broken. White spots danced over his vision and all he could focus on was the ugly bruise that would form there once this was over, if he ever got the chance to bruise that was. He attempted to shy away then, to protect himself, but the grip Mole had on him didn't stray, so he was unable to do nothing but gasp and bleed and cry.

"What's the fucking pin?" Eyes sneered.

This time, Finn answer. "4468."

Eyes nodded, pleased with that, and then he pocketed the card. Finn watched as his assailants looked at each other and then, out of the blue, Mole let go of him. Finn gasped, a combination of both shock and the need for oxygen. Mole walked around to join his friend and they looked at each other. Finn, still on his knees, struggled to keep himself upright.

"Please don't," he gasped. "That's all I have."

"What?" Mole asked.

"I don't have - have anything -" Finn paused. It hurt to talk. "Else. Please let me go."

Neither of them seemed impressed with that. Mole moved forward and punched him again. Finn fell to the side and then onto his back and he looked up and saw a night sky blanketed with stars. They were shining and bright and twinkling and they looked nice. But then, his view was blocked by a fist as he was punched over and over again and all he could focus on was the way someone's knuckles collided with the skin of his face and how his entire face now felt warm and wet and how he couldn't tell the difference between the blood and tears at this point but he wasn't sure if that even mattered now.

The weight that was on him shifted and then it was gone. Finn sucked in a weak breath.

"Do you want a shot?" Mole asked.

"Sure." Eyes said.

There was another weight on him now, this one heavier, this one had larger and more painful fists, this one did more damage. Eyes was more of a loose canon, his punches landed on Finn's head, his face, they harshly batted his arms away as Finn attempted to defend himself, a natural instinct to keep his head safe.

Eventually, Eyes got off of him. He shared words with Mole but all Finn could do was lay there and looked up at the stars. They were still bright and shining and one half of them were red now, which was weird, but not something he was going to complain about. It might have been an astronomy thing but Finn hadn't taken astronomy. There was too much math involved.

His trance was broken when he heard the slamming of car doors and the turn of an engine and he heard the tires on the dirt road. For a brief moment, he thought about how this would be ending. He was going to be a victim of a hit and run. The news would report him as an unfortunate kid who had been on the wrong road at the wrong time. Or he would be a John Doe, nameless for the rest of his life. They would show his case on Unsolved Mysteries, he would be a damaged corpse with proposed image likenesses and his mother would never get to bury her baby.

But then... the car reversed and it was gone.

And Finn lay there for a long time.

Or what felt like a long time. He couldn't breathe properly, there was something congealed and blocking his nose and it only really shifted once he forced himself onto his side, forced his bloody and dirty hand to wipe his nose and he found that it was blood. There was a lot of blood and that should have caused him to panic but for whatever reason, he was calm, serene.

He was still calm as he dragged himself along the dirt road, his breaths heavy, his head sore, with blood in his eyes, nose, his mouth, down the front of his grey hoodie. He couldn't die on a dirt road, no one would find him. He wanted his mother to be able to say goodbye, he wanted her to have something to bury. She hadn't with his father, it was important that she did with him.

So, he dragged himself until he realised he was in some sort of field. There was a large car that wasn't a car but a cab with large wheels and a lot of dirt around it. The dirt was neatly combed into orderly lines and it looked nice, Finn decided that this would be a nice place to rest. If his rest didn't end, then someone would be out to tend to their orderly lined dirt in the morning and they would find him and his mother would get to say goodbye.

And then, amongst the calm thoughts and his eyes unable to stay open, he noticed something. It was small and red but not red from the blood in his eyes but red because it was actually red. It scampered from side to side and then it stopped, a foot or so from Finn, sniffed the air between them then howled. It was a loud, bone shuddering howl. Finn heard it right in his ears, as if the animal was right next to him and not a foot away. He looked closer, or as close as he could, and realised that it was a fox.

The fox took off before Finn could say hi.

Somewhere, very far, in the horizon, a bright, yellow star light up. It wasn't as high as the other, it was on line with him almost and Finn thought that, maybe, it was something that was coming to claim his soul. He'd never been religious or spiritual but perhaps this was someone proving him wrong. Finn decided that he would meet them halfway.

He got back up, onto his scratched and bloody knees and hands and crawled through the dirt, upsetting himself to the point of weak tears when he realised that he was messing up the lines that had been created by the large wheeled car. He wanted to apologise, to whatever deity that drove the car, for ruining their hard work. He knew how much he hated it in football when someone got credit for his tackle or his touchdown or his leadership, he would make sure to apologise when he reached them so they wouldn't feel as bad as he did now - and he felt really bad.

When he did reach the star, it's brightness seemed subdued. It was trapped inside a rectangle cage but Finn could see the stairs that would lead him up to where they were keeping the star, the deity, and he dragged himself up the stairs. He realised, as soon as he collapsed on the wooden boards, that he was on a porch and the rectangle cage wasn't a cage but a house and the star wasn't a star but a light from inside.

He had found a house. His mother might not have had to say goodbye after all.

But Finn didn't have the strength to get up and knock on the door. Despite it being right there in front of him, there was no way for him to be able to reach up and knock, to be able to explain what happened. He had no energy left. With the arm that was trapped under his head, giving it something to lean against, he weakly reached out and his fingers brushed something wooden. It was too smooth to be the porch and it moved under his hand. Slowly, because he couldn't manage anything else, he looked over at it and saw that it was a chair. But no, not just any chair, it was a rocking chair.

He managed to shift forward, he managed to secure his hand around the leg. He managed to rock the chair.

The wooden legs hit the porch in a rhythmic beat. First, Finn couldn't hear it but then he could and then it was deafening and then he was out of energy and he was being swallowed by darkness he hadn't attempted to fight.

His eyes closed.

A door opened.

Someone screamed.

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