Disclaimer: I do not own GLEE Ryan Murphy and Fox do.
Chapter 11: Leaving for Lima
The fourth of July party had gone great, Rachel and Finn had hoped it wouldn't end, because they hardly saw anyone but each other from the old group. But it was weeks behind them now, they'd been back in New York for a month and a bit now. It was August 21st and they were flying in to Ohio later that afternoon; much to Rachel's dismay Finn was still packing. Then un-packing, then packing… again.
"Finn are you done yet?" she called from his living room, she'd been sat there for about 3 hours now, he'd come in every half hour to see if she was still there, then go pack again.
"Almost. Do you think I'll need a suit? If I do I don't want it to get screwed up in my suit case, so I'll need a garment bag right? But then what if the airlines lose it, then I won't have one, so maybe I'll need two, but that's like a hundred bucks more money for them to charge me."
"Finn, you won't need a suit until Nationals, and even then we're here in New York." Rachel laughed going to his room to see clothes and shoes tossed all over. "Are you ready now?"
"Well if I don't need a suit then yes." He said emerging from the closet. He grabbed his suit case and Rachel's and led her to the door. They made it to the airport an hour later, after being stuck in traffic and Finn taking a couple wrong turns to escape said traffic, but they made it in time. As they boarded the plane the realized it was first class, they hadn't noticed that before, Finn was a lot more excited about flying now seen as he had a seat that he had room in. "I have room for my legs for once, I like it!"
"How old are you Finn?" Rachel laughed as he sat down by the window.
"Almost twenty-nine, but this is rare, it's like the first Christmas where you actually get what you wanted." He replied looking out of the window and taking her hand.
"I'll never understand how your brain works."
"No one will, Kurt's been trying for nine years now and still hasn't figured it out." He laughed, still watching out of the window as the plane taxied down the run way and took off for the two hour flight.
"Well then it's just a lost cause." They laughed and talked for the whole flight apart from when Finn was eating cookies and drinking coffee like it was going out of style.
When the plane landed at the airport in Columbus the two collected their bags and went to rent a car. Rachel paid and they went to find this car they were supposed to drive to Lima, when they found it they groaned, it was a smart car, two seats no room for anything. Including Finn.
"Karma is a bitch." He said looking at the car with a look of pure disgust which caused Rachel to laugh. "Stop laughing! I'm six foot five, this isn't going to work."
"Well I guess you're walking." Rachel laughed as she unlocked the car.
"There isn't even any room for the suit cases, two hours in this thing is going to suck."
"Get in the car Finn, you're just going to have to hold the suit cases on your lap." Rachel explained getting in and starting the car. Finn sighed and grabbed the suitcases and sat in the seat with the cases on his lap.
Ah hour into the drive Finn had lost the feeling in his legs and was singing along to some country radio station to take his mind off of it.
When they arrived in Lima it was nine p.m but Finn jumped out of the car and hugged the ground outside Burt and his moms house.
"I have never seen a man hug the ground, not even a tree hugger." Rachel stated as she looked at him laid on the floor.
"Well this ground is better than that car." Finn stated simply as his mom walked out of the front door.
"Finn? Rachel! Oh my god, Burt, Rachel's here!" Carole yelled running past her son to hug Rachel as Burt walked out and waved at her.
"Finn, son, what are you doing?" he asked as he walked over to Rachel to hug her.
"Well, I was stuck in a car that may have made me claustrophobic for two hours, and now my mother won't show me any affection, this ground is my only form of love apparently." Finn sighed, moving to stand up, his white shirt now stained with dirt.
"Finn, look what you did to that shirt, go wash it. I can't believe you!" Carole scolded her son taking his arm and pulling him into the house. Rachel and Burt laughed as they watched a grown man twice the size of his mother being pulled into the house.
"Can you let him know I'll pick him up at noon tomorrow please Burt?" Rachel asked as Burt picked up Finn's suit case.
"Of course Rachel, it's good to see you again honey. You go home and rest up, your dad's are pretty excited that you're home I bet." Burt replied waving as he walked back to the house. Rachel climbed back into the car and drove to her dads house to be bombarded with hugs.
Rachel hadn't slept well alone that night, she and Finn were always together at his or her apartment, but she knew she'd see him soon enough. Being home in her old room felt strange, she hadn't slept in here for years.
She got up and got ready for her day at seven, they weren't going to the school until noon they were coaching from one till three. Rachel was sat on her bed when her fathers called her down for breakfast, they ate together talking about anything that came to mind. She was enjoying it until one of her fathers brought up the topic of getting married and children like he did every time they spoke.
"Daddy no, we're not having this conversation." She said standing up and rinsing her plate off.
"We're having it one day Rachel and it better be soon, we're not getting any younger and we want grandchildren." Rachel sighed and made her way to her room to get showered and dressed.
Rachel left the house at noon to pick up Finn in the "devil car" she shook her head when she saw what he was wearing; his old high school football jersey with his jeans and converse.
"Hey Rach!" he said when he got in the car and kissed her cheek. She smiled but laughed looking at how squished in the car he was.
"Hey Finn, you seem excited." She stated as she drove towards the school.
"I am, this will be fun. Two weeks of teaching kids, kids that are like what we were like in high school I'm pumped." He grinned, getting fidgety as they got closer to the school. She laughed and shook her head, Finn had never been excited to go to school before, now he was twenty eight and pumped.
They parked in the parking lot and walked towards the staff room, the hallways were empty seen as it was lunch time. Walking into the staff room they found Will and Emma talking at the table eating lunch.
"Hey Mr Shue, and Mrs Shue." Finn laughed pulling a chair out for Rachel before sitting down.
"Hey guys! You should now, the class is really excited, they pinned the letter up." Will said as he shook Finn's hand. Rachel and Emma were talking already as Finn began talking to Will about the plan for the next two weeks.
When the first bell rang Will left to get the class ready, he'd told Finn and Rachel not to come until after the second bell. So they were sat in the staff room drinking water.
"Well I'm nervous now." Finn said as they waited for the second bell to go. Rachel took his hand and squeezed it.
"Don't be." She replied gently as the bell rang and they stood up. Rachel released his hand and followed him out of the door towards to choir room. They heard talking and laughing, and a whole lot of it, the room was loud to say the least. Finn took a deep breath and knocked on the closed door.
"Okay guys, so I know this sounds hard but be quiet and behave." They heard Will's voice say as the door opened and Mr. Shuester let them in. The loud room got deathly quiet when Finn and Rachel walked in. "So guys, this is Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry. Does anyone know who they are?"
"I know Rachel from Spring Awakening Mr. Shue." One girl answered avoiding looking at Finn or Rachel.
"You do, you like the show?" Will asked her before turning to Rachel. "Anna here is the next child star Rachel, you'll be working with her later."
"I just bought Finn's CD this weekend." A boy called from the back row, he was sporting his football jersey too just like Finn, except he was number 6.
"Exactly, so in some way or another we all know Finn and Rachel from huge things outside of school right? Well these two were the New Direction's leads when they went to school here. So Anna, Daniel, stand up and come meet these two." Will said gesturing to Finn and Rachel who were stood by the piano smiling. The two teens stood up and walked out of their chairs avoiding looking at each other.
"It's nice to meet you Daniel." Finn greeted the boy who looked no older than seventeen, he held his hand out for him to shake.
"Same to you Mr. Hudson." He replied nervously. The two looked over at Rachel and Anna who were hugging.
"You were great in Spring Awakening Rachel. I saw it twice this summer." Anna told Rachel, they smiled at each other.
"Well I'm looking forward to hanging out with you these next two weeks, I can't wait to see what you can do." Rachel said moving to shake hands with Daniel as Finn went and hugged Anna.
"Alright, come on kids lets get this joint jumpin'!" Finn exclaimed as he went and high fived the other kids, the group had about fifteen kids in it now.
"Finn, don't get them too excited." Will told Finn as he walked up to Finn and moved him to a chair. "Rachel, Finn have a seat, the kids are going to show you their songs for Nationals."
"Yes sir!" They chorused causing the group to laugh.
"Okay guys, one, two, three…" Will started them and the kids started singing the along with the opening notes of 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train. Rachel and Finn were amazed when Daniel opened up the first verse. But when Anna joined in they ended up leant forward watching intently as they finished the song.
"Holy shit." Finn said before Rachel smacked him round the head.
"Finn language!" she scolded him, the kids laughing at him.
"I meant shoot. Holy shoot." He corrected himself before carrying on. "You guys are great. I tell you carry on like that you may just have a record deal."
The kids cheered and Will had to calm them down again. After that everyone got settled and into the lesson. Finn went over good song choices for them on top of what they had picked and Rachel helped Will with choreography, all in all they had fun. When the bell rang for last class the kids groaned.
"Anna, Daniel, you guys are staying. I have to go teach a Spanish class but Finn and Rachel are going to be with you." Will said grabbing his folder. "I'll see you guys all tomorrow."
"Bye Mr. Shue!" all four chorused, when he left Daniel and Anna went quiet.
"So where to start?" Finn asked, standing and pacing like Will did when he was thinking.
"Well what are you guys doing for your duet?" Rachel asked them, Anna looked at Daniel the same time he looked at her, they quickly looked away and faced Rachel.
"We don't really have one." Daniel said, his hands ruffling his hair as he looked at Anna. Finn watched them as Rachel went for the binder Will had kept from when they were in Glee Club.
"Daniel and I can't decide, we wanted to do Journey, but we don't know what song to do." Anna added.
"Well what about Open Arms?" Finn asked placing a hand on both Anna and Daniel's shoulders. They all looked up at him, including Rachel.
"That is a good song Sir, what about that one Anna?" Daniel questioned her smiling.
"I love that song, why didn't we think about that one first?" Finn and Rachel laughed as they went into arrangements with little help from them. After a few minutes Rachel and Finn split Anna and Daniel up, Finn took Anna and Rachel, Daniel.
"Okay, so Anna, Open Arms, I can tell you Journey will win the judges over." Finn said as he sat down opposite Anna at the table in the choir room.
"Really?"
"Really. A good love song wins judges over all the time. Now you and Daniel have strong voices which is great. You and I will run through the song a few times then we'll put you and Daniel together to see how it works."
"Sounds good." They ran through the songs three times and Finn helped Anna out a lot, until she had it perfect.
"Rachel is probably working Daniel like a dog, so I'm going to be the favourite, you and I can chill, what do you think?"
"That sounds fun." Anna laughed as Finn high fived her. "So Mr. Hudson, you're a music producer right?"
"Call me Finn, and yeah I am, why do you ask?"
"Okay… Finn, well I was just wondering, did you produce your own CD?"
"Yup, I wrote it, recorded it and produced it all myself, have you heard it?"
"I heard one song on iTunes, I'm hoping to get the CD soon though, you're really good."
"Well thanks Anna, you're not too bad yourself." Finn told her nudging her shoulder gently with his fist.
"Finn! We're ready now come to the auditorium!" Rachel's voice called before she even reached the door to the choir room.
"We're coming, we're coming." He called back ushering Anna out of the room. "It's best not to keep her waiting." He told her laughing as they ran down the hallway past Rachel.
"I heard that Hudson." Rachel said when she entered the auditorium.
"You were meant to." Finn laughed as she sat down beside him in the front row. "Okay guys, without the music the first time through and then Rachel and I will do the music after. When you're ready."
Daniel started them off:
Lying beside you here in the dark
Feeling your heart beat with mine
Softly you whisper, you're so sincere
How could our love be so blind?The song exploded when they started singing together and Finn and Rachel just smiled.
So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me, open arms
We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are by my side
Living without you, living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you, wanting you near
How much I wanted you home
But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay
So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me, open arms
"Guys, that was amazing!" Finn said as he and Rachel clapped, Anna and Daniel just stood on stage unsure of what to do now. The bell rang and Finn and Rachel said goodbye to Anna and Daniel. They'd had fun today and couldn't wait until tomorrow.
A/N: Read and Review guys! please visit my facebook for daily updates. .?#!id=100001315651018 I'll have visuals up later tonight or tomorrow.
