Chapter 10

Finn POV

One week. There was only one week standing between him and being reunited with his wife. The band would finally be on a break from a six month tour and it couldn't come at a better time. His dreams were getting worse; the anxiety was becoming harder to hide from his bandmates. Ever since Rachel's visit he was fighting off this feeling that nothing was ever going to be right again. He needed his wife.

His wife however, seemed to be avoiding him. It had been a week since he had heard her voice. Sure they sent text messages, but every time he called she was always "away from her phone" or "off rehearsing a scene". She was either really busy, or avoiding him.

He knew it was the paranoia that was getting to him. Rachel had no reason to avoid him. He couldn't remember doing anything that would annoy her. Usually he knew when he had done something. He had occasionally said something stupid in an interview that made her stop speaking to him for a few days or took a joke too far when teasing her about Broadway, but he hadn't done an interview in two weeks and they hadn't spoken about anything even remotely funny for a week. Something was wrong though, he could feel it.

"You seen my boxers?" Sam asked from across the room. "You know, the lucky ones, with the ducks on them?"

Finn shook his head, "I'm not your mom. I don't track your underwear."

Sam cursed under his breath. "I never play a show without them."

"Dude grow up." Finn grunted. Though he knew his mood was getting the best of him. He understood Sam's issue. Finn never took the stage without tucking the small hairclip into his pocket. Rachel gave it to him in high school once when they were about to take the stage. Something about good luck and forgetting about the people in the audience because you have an object to focus on. He never bought into that nonsense, but the small object was always special to him.

"I'm putting these babies up on EBay! How much you think I'd get for a pair of stinky drawers from the oh-so-sexy Sam Evans?" Puck was twirling the boxers above his head as Sam punched him in the stomach, causing the yellow shorts to fall to the ground. Sam scooped them up and shoved them into his bag as he swore. "Dick".

Blaine entered the room, his cell phone to his ear. "Yeah…Ok…." He nodded at Finn.

Finn jumped up, "That Kurt?"

Blaine nodded and put his hand up to Finn's face. "Yes I get it Kurt, well tell Rachel that I don't know if we will be back by Thursday night….Kurt…did you hear me…Oh, Rachel, hey."

Finn grabbed the phone from Blaine. "Rach, is that you?"

Finn could hear Rachel's voice trail off as he spoke. "Um Finn. I…Uh was just talking to Blaine about…"

Finn interrupted her, "Yeah I feel like we seem to always be playing phone tag."

Rachel gulped. "Um yeah I've been really busy, sorry about that."

Finn sighed, "Yeah so have I, it's just you always seem to call back when I'm on stage, which is odd cuz you already know I'm on stage and stuff."

"Finn, I really don't have time right now, can you put Blaine back on?" Rachel sounded annoyed. But mostly she sounded like she wanted him off the phone and quickly.

"Yeah sure." He pushed the phone toward Blaine and scooped his bag off the bed, storming out of the room. He rounded the corner of the hall, jumped into the elevator, and before he could even stop to focus on the fact that he had just ended a call with Rachel without telling her he loved her, Puck was sticking his arm through the door to cause it to reopen as he jumped in beside him.

"Hey Dude…you just excited for another bus ride or did you just feel like storming out of a room for old time's sake?" Puck laughed before adding, "You forgot to kick the chair, by the way."

Finn leaned against the elevator wall. "Nah, just Rachel. She's…." He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sure it's just distance making us both moody."

"Yeah I get it. Quinn's been off her rocker lately. The only thing scarier than having another baby is being alone with her hormonal ass while she's pregnant, to be honest." Puck joked though Finn knew that the two of them were already pretty volatile before you added baby hormones and Puck's inability to not say stupid shit.

"You're the one who keeps knocking her up dude." Finn huffed and then paused when he saw Puck stiffen across from him. "Sorry man, I'm just….tired of being on tour." He took a long breath before the elevator doors opened to the sound of screaming girls.

"Shit." They both said simultaneously. Puck was punching furiously at the elevator buttons as the girls jumped forward toward the elevator. Three of them wearing shirts with their faces on them made it into the tiny space as the doors shut behind them and the hum of the elevator started as it made its way to the basement floor.

"Oh My God. I told Katie we would meet you. I can't believe you're like….here." The blonde girl with Finn's face across her chest was screaming. She was furiously flailing her arms as she reached into her purse, causing Finn to hop backward toward the wall. "Like wow, Finn Hudson." She pushed a marker into his hand. "Can you sign your name…here?" She giggled as she lifted her shirt, pointing her breast toward his hand. "Right under here." She said laughing. "I'm going to have it tattooed there permanently. Cool, right?"

Finn felt his heart skipping; the space was feeling tighter and tighter as his hand started shaking. "I uh." He could feel Puck's eyes on his, the look of confusion spreading across his face.

"Hey Ladies, what am I chopped liver? Where can I sign?" Puck moved toward the second girl. She laughed and leaned against the elevator. Screeching started as the elevator lurched upward and stopped suddenly.

Finn felt the air get thicker as the sound started to get louder. "Get it moving." He shouted. "Why isn't it moving?" He panicked.

One of the girls screamed and started pressing buttons while the girl next to Finn pushed up against him. "Will you protect me?" She cooed into his chest. Finn felt himself spinning as everything around him started to turn black. "Finn? Finn?" Drifting away, things got quieter and quieter as he fell away.

"Oh Finny, Finny boy, will you touch my boobies?"

Finn stirred as he looked up and saw Puck leaning over him. "Get the fuck off me." Finn sat up quickly. They were alone in the elevator and he could see the bus sitting in the garage through the open doors behind Puck. "What the hell happened?" He asked as he stood up and pushed himself out of the small space.

"Well after you passed out like a wuss, I had to give those girls free tickets to the show and convince them you hadn't eaten all day and that's why you were wilting like a flower in a stuck elevator. Like what the fuck, man."

Finn pushed his way past him and into the bus, tossing his bag onto his bed. "It was hot in there, man. That's all."

Puck nodded, "Yeah, hot. Ok." His teasing turned to concern. "Are you…"

"Let's get this shit on the road." Finn and Puck both turned around startled as Kyle jumped into the bus.

Finn jumped into his bunk. "Yeah, let's go." He slid the curtain shut, ignoring Puck's eagerness to continue the conversation.

Finn pulled out his phone and dialed Rachel's number. "This is Rachel Hudson, I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you…if this is my husband, I love you baby."

He punched the end call button and tossed his phone beside him. If anyone knew Rachel, it was Finn. And right now, Rachel was avoiding him. In one week, she wouldn't be able to avoid him any longer.