Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I've been having so much fun writing Finchel, I had to write a second one. You'll be getting more of Finchel in upcoming chapters, even though it's focusing on Clayton and Cody now. Thanks to everyone who reviewed or followed and don't forget to review!
"I made it," Cody sighed as he took in the sights of Times Square. It was even more amazing in person than it was in the photos he'd seen on the internet and when his uncles came to visit. There was the ball that fell every New Year's Eve. And in the distance, he could see the theatres. His dad had offered to get him a ticket to a show of his choosing. He just wished he could spend all his free time, except rehearsals and the competition, going to shows. In fact, he'd practiced his solo so much, he didn't think he'd need much more practice.
"Okay, everyone!" Mr. Schue called out. "You guys are free to hang out around New York until 4, when we can check into our rooms at the hotel, and then we'll start practicing. Just stick in groups."
Cody got an idea. He wanted to sneak into a theatre and see if he could sing on a real Broadway stage. Sure, that probably wasn't allowed, but once the staff at the theatre heard him sing, they'd be swept away by his talent.
He asked some of the glee guys if he could join their group for the afternoon, but lingered behind them as they walked, keeping an eye on the theatres, hoping the door would be open at one of them. Sure enough, the door to the theatre where Dear Evan Hansen was playing was ajar. One day, Cody was going to play Evan Hansen on Broadway. Cody bolted away from the group and into the theatre.
He was only standing in the lobby, but he practically lost his breath. The big poster promoting the musical was there and the lobby was beautifully decorated. By some miracle, none of the cleaners seemed to notice him, so he kept moving forward and entered the theatre itself.
There it was, a real Broadway stage. It was so big and looked so empty. The velvet seats were even beautiful. He kept making his way forward and stood on the stage. Once he was on the stage, he began singing Waving Through A Window, picturing himself singing it at Nationals. He pictured the judges being in awe of his performance and the crowd being on his feet...
And at the end of his song, he heard some clapping. "Very good."
Cody jumped and turned. Someone was walking toward him. Crap. He wasn't supposed to be here. What if he got in trouble? What if this person told Mr. Schue and he got disqualified from competing at Nationals?
However, the theatre staff member didn't look like she was mad at Cody. "I shouldn't have expected anything less from you." He'd posted videos of himself on YouTube, but they'd reached New York? That was a dream of his, that one of his videos would somehow be seen by someone in the theatre business, but maybe it was just that: a dream. "Seeing how talented your mom is, it's to be expected."
Wait. This person knew Cody's mom? Cody didn't even know who his mom was. How did a stranger in New York know who his mom was and that Cody was her son, whoever she was?
"Your mom probably told you that she got held up at an interview, but she'll be here as soon as she can," the staff member continued. An interview? This was getting weirder and weirder. "But if you want to go hang out in her dressing room, she'll be here any minute. I know she was excited to hang out with you before the show tonight."
Cody knew what he was doing was wrong. Part of him knew he should confess but this was confusion, that this staff member thought he was someone he wasn't, and he could get in trouble for sneaking in. But to explore the theatre backstage? That would be so cool to see how things worked behind the scenes.
"Yeah, could you walk with me?" Cody asked, hoping he'd be able to find his way backstage okay. Then he'd find a way out.
In the back halls of the theatre, things were even cooler. The staff member asked about school and Cody talked about how he was stressed about his upcoming finals. He figured that was safe as just about any school would be preparing for finals now. But he could barely take his eyes off all the news articles about the show on the walls and the photos of the cast of the show. Finally, the staff member stopped at a dressing room with a gold star on the door, and Cody figured this was where he was supposed to be. He went in and sat on the couch, reading the articles on the wall praising the show.
Practice had been canceled today, so Clayton had texted his mom this morning and asked if he could come to the theatre and hang out with her before her show. He was disappointed that she'd been held up in an interview, but that would give him some time to get his homework done while he waited. However, when he got into his mom's dressing room, he saw that someone was already in there. "Holy crap!"
Cody turned around and saw another boy about his age. In fact, it was as if he was looking in the mirror. This boy had the same cinnamon eyes, same Jewish nose, same chin, same hair color, same cheek bones, same freckles, same tall, slender build. If it wasn't for this boy's longer, flippy hair that tickled his ears, he'd think there was a mirror.
Clayton gasped. "Who are you?" he asked this stranger who looked just like him.
"I'm Cody Hudson," Cody said. He might as well be honest. "Who are you?"
"I'm Clayton Berry," Clayton said. He couldn't help but feel suspicious. "What are you doing in my mom's dressing room?"
Berry? My mom's dressing room? "You're Rachel Berry's son?" Cody gasped. He thought he knew everything about Rachel Berry, but he didn't know she had a son, let alone one who looked just like him. "Your mom is so talented! One day I'm going to be on Broadway and have a costar as talented as her."
So, was this a fanboy who'd broken in? Clayton tried not to appear freaked out. "Yeah, I am. But how did you get back here?"
Then it came to Cody. The staff member must have thought he was Clayton. "I think they thought I was you." He might as well apologize. "I'm sorry. I'm here from Ohio with my glee club for Nationals and I've always wanted to sing on a Broadway stage. When I saw a way to get in to the theatre I couldn't help it... please, I'll give you the money my dad gave me for this trip if you don't tell anyone I snuck in..."
This sounded like one of Rachel's rambles. Clayton could see why this Cody guy was a fan of his mom. And the truth was, if he wasn't Rachel Berry's son, he probably would have tried to find ways to sneak into Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Barclays Center and CitiField. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I'll show you a way out without getting caught." Something else had stood out. "You're here from Ohio?" He noticed the McKinley High jacket. "Do you go to McKinley in Lima?" This was weird.
"Yeah, what does that mean to you?" Cody asked. How would Rachel Berry's son know about McKinley High?
"You're a big fan of my mom, and you don't know she's originally from Lima and went to McKinley High?" Clayton asked.
Cody couldn't believe this. "Your mom went to McKinley High?" Rachel Berry had gone to the same high school Cody went to now?
"Yeah," Clayton said. "I've always wanted to go to Lima and see where she came from, but she never wants to go back."
Cody couldn't wait to get out of Lima. "You're not missing much. I can't wait to graduate and go to NYADA and come here to New York. I've always wanted to come here, but my dad has something against New York. At least he let me come here for Nationals."
It was always hard for Clayton when he heard other kids talk about their dads, knowing nothing about his dad and having nothing to contribute. Maybe he shouldn't tell a guy he just met that though. "I love New York. There are so many sports teams, I can go to a game almost every weekend."
Cody often got bored when his dad took him to Browns, Bengals, Cavs, Indians, Reds and Bluejackets games. "One day I'll sing the anthem for those teams, when I've won my Tonys, they'll all be begging me." Then his phone went off. It was a text from one of the guys from glee, asking where he was. He wanted to stay at the theatre, but he didn't want to get kicked off the trip. "I should probably get back to my teammates. It was nice to meet you."
"You too, if you walk out and turn right, you'll see the back door, and then you can just go around the building and get back to Times Square," Clayton said. Having a mom for a Broadway star meant meeting all kinds of people, but meeting one who looked just like him, acted just like his mother and was from his mother's hometown was something that hadn't happened before. Was this a cousin from Lima or something? His mom was an only child, but Clayton didn't know anything about his dad's family. His dad had to be from Lima too, right? His mom had him the year after she graduated from high school.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, baby," Rachel said, coming into the dressing room. She'd been excited to spend the afternoon with her son and she was late. "I was so excited when I found out I could spend the afternoon with you and then my interview got delayed..."
"Mom, I just got here like ten minutes ago," Clayton told his mother.
Rachel sat down. "How was your day?"
Clayton almost told Rachel about the guy he'd just met, but then decided not to. "It was fine."
"Good news," Rachel told Clayton. "My understudy's doing the show tomorrow, so I'm going to come to your game!"
Clayton managed a smile. "That's great!" He tried not to convey how weirded out he was.
Rachel noticed her son seemed a bit on edge. "Are you okay?"
Clayton tried to give his mom a convincing look. "I'm fine."
Maybe he just didn't want to talk. Or maybe it was a girl or something he couldn't talk to his mom about. Sometimes Rachel worried she wasn't enough for Clayton and that there were times when every boy needed his dad. She wasn't going to pry though. His dad. She began thinking of his dad.
Finn had left for the army a few weeks ago. Rachel had been looking forward to graduating high school and spending the summer getting ready for New York. Now, she spent most of her time sitting around the house feeling sad. She'd tried calling, texting, writing, e-mailing, messaging on social media, everything she could, but Finn wasn't responding.
Maybe it was for the best. Finn had decided that he wanted to go to The Actors Studio suddenly. He didn't really know what he wanted and maybe he needed time. Maybe she'd been forcing herself on him. Just because two people were together in high school didn't mean they would spend their lives together. Her dads weren't even in contact with most of their friends from high school.
Still, she thought she and Finn were different. He'd brought out the best in her, he'd changed her for the better and he'd given her all her best memories. He understood her and believed her like no one else did. She really, really thought they would last forever. She could see them getting married and having kids together.
Now she was questioning everything. If he didn't see a future with her, maybe there wasn't one. She thought he'd enjoyed New York when they were there last year, but that had just been for Nationals for a week. That was different from living there.
Would she be happy living anywhere else? She must admit, probably not. Ever since she was little, she knew she wanted to be on Broadway, and Broadway was in New York.
Why was everything so complicated?
Rachel looked at her calendar. Her period was due three weeks ago. Crap. How had she not noticed it hadn't come? Was it all the stress? Or was it -
Crap.
She always took birth control, but now she remembered. There was one day she forgot to take it. Had she gotten pregnant?
She knew that avoiding the situation wouldn't make it go away. She needed to know. So she drove to the pharmacy. Luckily, no one she knew was there. She bought three pregnancy tests and drove home.
How would Finn react if she was pregnant? Would he be mad at her and accuse her of trying to get him back?
She never thought she would get pregnant. But seeing how hard it was with Shelby and how strained things were, and seeing how hard it was for Quinn after giving away Beth, she didn't think she could give a baby up for adoption.
But could she have a baby while she was at NYADA? Would she be able to achieve her Broadway dream?
She had the tests, but she didn't even need to take them. She knew. Sometimes people got gut feelings and she had one now.
Cody wished he could have stayed at the theatre longer and met Rachel Berry. Her son seemed pretty cool. But if he stayed at the theatre, he might get in trouble for sneaking away from the group. He might get kicked off the trip. And if he couldn't perform at Nationals, how was he supposed to make a name for himself?
He made his way into the restaurant the guys were in, still thinking about how cool it was that he'd been in a real Broadway theatre. "Hey guys," he told his teammates. "I'm sorry, I got distracted by something in a window and then I tried looking for you guys."
"At least you're here now," said Jackson. "Imagine how much trouble we'd be in if you went missing."
"If you got kicked off the trip, we'd be screwed," said Aiden. "We can't win Nationals without you."
Cody tried to hold in his annoyance. His fears that his teammates only liked him for his voice definitely weren't being eased right now. "Don't worry, I won't let it happen again."