Chapter Seven: Form a Line

We spent most of the rest of the drive to Boston reading and responding to tweets and comments, and talking through our itinerary for the rest of the week. It was strange how quickly I could fall back into an easy and natural relationship with these people who I hadn't seen in so many years. For brief moments, it felt like old times, but those moments vanished quickly when they reminded me how infinitely over those old times really were.

We pulled up beside the theatre in Boston three hours before our show, and the four of us sat in the RV just sort of staring at each other and psyching ourselves up before we got out.

"Finn!" The first thing I saw when I stepped down from the RV was a group of six or seven twenty-somethings standing by the stage doors, wearing Peregrination merch and bouncing with excitement to see me appear.

"Oh wow, hi guys!" I said, stepping forward and shaking hands and giving hugs. "Nice to meet you."

Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel stood by awkwardly as I asked them all their names and found out where they were from.

"I can't believe you're here!" Marnie said, "I've had tickets to the Avonroy series for months, and Soundtrack was the one I was most excited to see. Now that I know you're involved, I'm even more excited."

I motioned for my friends to step forward. "Well, don't be excited about me. These are the masterminds behind it. It's a great show."

I glanced at them and said, "I'm gunna go into the theatre and figure out what we're doing. Do you guys want to hang out with our new friends?"

Rachel grinned widely, and I left them with my fans as I went into the theatre, stomach fluttering.

I'd spent months faking my way through coordinating with the theatres, and now it was time to see if I'd been successful.

I found the office I'd been directed to check in at without much difficulty. "Can I help you?" asked the man behind the desk.

"Yes," I said, "I'm Finn Hudson, with Soundtrack? We've just pulled up."

The man looked up sharply and got to his feet immediately. "Finn Hudson! Fantastic. I'm Steve Buford. It's great to meet you. You look just like you do in your vlogs. Wow."

He shook my hand eagerly, and I tried not to be embarrassed. "We've been selling Soundtrack tickets like crazy all morning," said Steve, "I don't think there are many seats left. This show is getting buzz."

"Fantastic," I said, grinning proudly, "Blaine will be glad to hear it."

Steve nodded. "I can't wait to see it."

"Awesome," I said, "So… you got our sound and lighting rider, right?"

"Of course," Steve said, "Everything's ready for you; I'll show you to the stage and introduce you to our sound and lighting guys, and then you can load in."

"Right," I said, "Perfect. Cool. So what's the deal? Can we start loading in now or what?"

Steve said, "Yeah, absolutely. Get set up, and then we'll do a sound check and walk through the lighting. I'll let the guys know you're here."

"Awesome," I said.

Steve showed me backstage, gave me keys to our dressing room, and introduced me to the house lighting and sound techs. By the time I finally went back outside to get the others to help start loading stuff in, the three of them were engaged in a very earnest conversation with the Peregrination fans about something that dissolved as soon as I returned.

"Alright," I said, "Let's do this."

It was a long and exhausting process to set up the stage, but the three of them had organized themselves and all of their sets, props, and equipment so well that it was pretty straightforward. My main contribution was moving heavy things and staying out of the way. Kurt was the professional at this; before he'd been able to start designing full-time, he'd worked as all varieties of production assistant and stage hand on and off Broadway.

"Show's sold out," a tech told me as we set up a merchandise table in the lobby, "Set looks incredible. Good luck."

He walked away, and Blaine jumped about a foot into the air. "Yes!" he said, "Sold out. Fuck yeah. Sold out premier. Yes."

Kurt kissed him, and Rachel and I high-fived.

We went to our dressing room to scarf down dinner, shower, and get into our costumes. "I should go out there and talk to people," I said, once the theatre began filling up.

"Don't," Blaine told me, "You'll start a riot."

I laughed. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"No," Kurt said seriously, "Don't. If you go out there, everyone is going to come over and try to talk to you. It'll be a mess. Just wait until after the show when we're selling merch. They can form a line."

I grimaced. "Form a line? That sounds so…" I shuddered. "I think you're overestimating how many people out there give a shit who I am."

Rachel laughed. "And I think you're underestimating it. Finn, people have been here waiting for you for four hours. We were talking to those people outside when we first got here; did you know that they actually have a Peregrination society here in Boston? They run a cooperative hostel and local touring service, and they use the proceeds to send their members on adventures all around the world. And it's all inspired by you."

I grinned. "Oh really?" I asked, "I didn't know that there was one of those in Boston. I need talk to them about that. I want to start a worldwide collective."

"A worldwide collective?" Blaine raised his eyebrows dubiously.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I'll send you the link to the blog post I made about it a few years ago. There are a handful of Peregrinators doing it around the world. Some just out of their homes and stuff. They have a forum online. Hopefully someday I'll have the resources to really try to get something official going."

Blaine's eyebrows were still raised. I couldn't tell if he thought this was a crazy idea, or if the idea impressed him. I turned away from him so I wouldn't have to try to figure it out.

"Wow, yeah, send me that link too," Kurt said, "I had no idea that sort of thing existed until we talked to those people earlier."

Rachel nodded. "I still don't think you should go out there until after the show, Finn. You're having a meet-up tomorrow anyway. We can't cause chaos before the show even starts. It'll just confuse the people out there who have no idea who you are."

I was so pleased to find out that there was a Peregrination society in Boston that I didn't even argue.