Author's Note: As always, thank you for the amazing reviews! This chapter's title is from "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
"So are excited for your doctor's appointment?"
Finn looked up at Kurt with a raised eyebrow. "Why would I be excited for a doctor's appointment?"
"Because you can finally get your bandages off! You can wear shirts without looking like you have some sort of growth on your ribs!"
Finn gave his brother a semi-exasperated, semi-amused look. He wasn't too keen on walking around with scars all over his chest. Still, it would be nice not to constantly change bandages all the time. He shrugged his shoulders instead and rubbed the back of his neck.
Kurt knew what Finn was concerned about. "Finn, I wouldn't worry about it," he said gently.
Finn tried to play it off. "Worry about what?"
Kurt put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "No one is going to look at you any differently. You know that, right? The scars don't mean anything."
Finn nodded his head, but he didn't say anything. The scars did mean something. They were a constant reminder of what had happened. Every time he looked at those scars, he would remember how he got them.
"Look, after the doctor's appointment, we'll go get some new clothes for you," Kurt offered.
Finn chuckled. "Kurt, I appreciate the effort, but shopping to make yourself feel better is your thing."
"Fair point." Kurt tapped his chin. "How about we go get a cheeseburger after? I'll just eat a salad, or something."
Finn laughed outright then and clapped Kurt on the shoulder. "That sounds more like it!"
Carole came into the kitchen then, smiling when she saw her two sons talking at the table. She put her hand on Finn's shoulder. "Finn, there's someone at the door for you."
Finn's brow furrowed. "Uh… okay." He got up and went to the front door. Curious, Kurt and Carole followed to watch from a distance. Finn moved slowly towards the door, given how secretive his mother was being about the whole thing. He slowly opened the door and promptly got one of the biggest surprises of his life.
Sergeant Lucas Davis was standing on his front porch. Corporal Nathan James and Sergeant Jack Carter were standing right behind him. Davis smiled. "Hello, Huddy."
"I'm glad to see that you're doing better, Davis," Finn said. He picked at the label on his water bottle before he looked up and smiled at his three friends.
Davis nodded his head. There was a serious look on his face, full of gratefulness and sincerity. "Thanks to you, Huddy."
Finn shifted in his seat and tried to think of a way to change the subject. He was glad to see his friends, and it was good to know that they were all doing well. Despite it all, he didn't want to talk about what had happened on that day—even with the people who were there.
"How are your boys?" Finn asked.
"They're good," Davis said. He was wearing a big smile now. He pulled a picture out of his wallet and handed it to Finn. There were two blonde little boys, about five and three years old. Settled between them was an infant. Davis pointed to each child. "That's Parker and Dylan. And the baby in the middle is Conner Finn Davis."
Finn smiled at the picture, but then Davis's words suddenly registered in Finn's mind. He looked down at the baby in the picture before looking back up at his friend with wide eyes. "What did you just say?"
Davis nodded his head towards the picture. "My wife had been pregnant with our third when I started our last tour in Afghanistan. She had him a week after I was shipped home. We already knew that we were going to name him Conner, but we didn't have a middle name for him. Finn seemed like the perfect name."
"I… You named your son after me?" Finn was looking at Davis as if he didn't quite believe him. He looked at Nathan and Jack, and they both nodded their heads. Davis definitely wasn't making this up.
"Huddy, you're the reason I was able to return home to my boys and my wife. It's because of you that I could see my son being born. I just… it's my way of saying thank you."
"I…" Finn didn't really know what to say to that. Eventually, he just nodded his head and passed the picture back to Davis. His chest was kind of tight and he felt proud and confused all at the same time.
"I brought my wife and kids down with me," Davis said. "They would really like the chance to meet you."
"I…" Finn couldn't really think of anything to say. But he was saved when he felt his mother's hand on his shoulder.
"Why don't you invite all of your families down?" Carole suggested. "We'll have a barbeque tomorrow. It'll be great to have all of you here."
Davis smiled at the older woman. "That's sounds good." Carole, Davis, Nathan, and Jack exchanged information about the following day. Finn managed to rouse himself out of his shock just in time to say goodbye to his friends.
"Hey. You've been quiet all day. Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Finn looked down at Rachel and smiled at her. He squeezed her hand before lifting it to his lips to press a kiss to it. "Some of the guys from my team visited today," he revealed.
"Really?" This was the first time that Finn had willingly brought up his time in Afghanistan on his own. "That's nice."
Finn kept his eyes on their entwined hands. "Yeah. Davis and Nathan and Jack came. They're coming over for a barbeque tomorrow. Do you think you can come, too?"
"Of course I can." Rachel squeezed Finn's hand and smiled up at him, even though he wasn't looking at her. She was glad that he was opening up a little bit.
"They're bringing their families, too." Finn grew quiet again. "Davis's wife just had a baby. They named him after me."
Rachel stopped in her tracks. She remembered the article that had come out when Finn had first come home. Lucas Davis was the name of the man he had saved that day. She waited quietly to see if Finn would say anything else as they stood in the park.
Finn started to slowly walk again. "Conner Finn. That's his name."
"That's a wonderful name, Finn," Rachel said.
Finn looked down at Rachel before his eyes went back down to their hands. "Yeah?"
"Finn." Rachel tugged him to a stop again and tucked her fingers under his chin, turning his face towards hers. "You may think that you were just doing your job, but you did something really wonderful for that man and his family." Her thumbs smoothed over his cheeks. "You're a hero, you know. You're definitely mine."
The next thing she knew, Rachel was engulfed in Finn's arms. He pressed a kiss to her neck before he mumbled, "Rachel, you're my hero."
Kids ran around with Brady in the backyard. They tossed a ball back and forth to amuse both themselves and the puppy, who loved that he was the center of attention. The adults all watched from the deck as Burt grilled some burgers and hotdogs.
Rachel entered the backyard, holding a large salad bowl. Carole caught sight of her first and greeted her cheerfully, giving her a warm hug.
"Finn is on the deck. Here, I'll take the salad bowl and you can go on up."
"Thanks, Carole," Rachel said. She passed Kurt and Blaine, pausing to kiss both on the cheek before she climbed up the stairs. Finn spotted her right away and walked over, greeting her with a soft kiss on the lips. Rachel took his hand, entwining their fingers together. He smiled down at her, his thumb rubbing small circles over the back of her hand.
"Come on, Rach," he said. "There are a few people that I want you to meet."
Rachel was definitely eager to meet the men that Finn had spent the past five years with. She had at least had Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany, and Quinn to help her through their separation. She had also kept in contact with Mercedes, who had a flourishing career in Los Angeles. Finn, on the other hand, hadn't had anyone with him. Rachel didn't know if he had kept in touch with anyone besides Kurt over the past five years. It was nice to know that Finn had several people that he could count on.
"Guys, this is Rachel," Finn introduced. "Rach, these are some of the guys I served with. Lucas Davis, Nathan James, and Jack Carter." He pointed out each man as he introduced them, and he tugged Rachel into his side with the other.
"It's wonderful to meet you," Rachel said warmly. "It's nice to finally put some faces with the names."
"Likewise," Jack said with a smirk. "It's great to finally meet the famous Rachel Berry."
Finn groaned as Rachel's brow furrowed. "Jack," he stated, his voice clearly holding a warning.
All three men rolled their eyes good-naturedly. "Come on. Jack is definitely telling the truth," Nathan said. "You talked about her all the time."
Finn's cheeks were bright red as Davis nodded his head in agreement. "I swear, it seemed as if not a day went by when there wasn't a mention of Rachel Berry."
Rachel looked up at Finn. Her heart was thumping at Jack, Nathan, and Davis's words. Was it really true? Had Finn talked about her and told his friends stories? Honestly, the only time Rachel had ever talked about Finn was when she had been really drunk. And she had eventually told the very first man that she dated about Finn. It had been the reason they had broken up. Even then, through all of her heartbreak, her feelings for Finn had been so very strong.
"I remember the first picture he showed us of you," Jack said. "I was talking about my fiancée, and Nathan and Davis were talking about their wives, and Finn just whipped out this picture of you. He kept it on him at all times. Called it his lucky charm."
Finn rubbed at the back of his neck but said nothing. His grip was still tight around Rachel as she remained tucked into his side. Rachel could feel tears gather in her eyes, but she held them back as Davis started talking.
"He told us about what happened when you graduated from high school." He gave Rachel a soft smile. "We're glad to see that you're back in his life now, Rachel. Despite everything that's happened, we can see that he's much happier now than he ever was."
Rachel's grip tightened on Finn. There were so many things that she wanted to say, but it wasn't a conversation that she really wanted to have with all of those people present. Rachel could see that Finn had the same look on his face, as well.
Before anyone could say anything else, a dark-haired woman came in from the house, cradling an infant in her arms. Davis greeted the woman with a light kiss on the lips. They both turned to face Finn and Rachel.
"Rachel, this is my wife, Brooke," Davis said. "And now that she's finally finished feeding Conner, Finn can properly meet him."
Brooke smiled at Finn. "I just… I really wanted to thank you, Finn," she said. "What you did… it was so amazing. Thank you." She sniffled at the thought of what might have happened to her husband before she placed the infant in Finn's arms.
Pictures were taken, Carole and Brooke cried, Burt and Davis tried to calm their wives down, and even Finn shed a few tears. Rachel stood next to Finn and put her hand on his back, rubbing in small circles as they looked down at the gurgling baby.
It was after dark when everyone had finally left. Finn and Rachel were just finishing up with the dishes as Burt, Carole, Kurt, and Blaine cleaned up out back. Rachel washed the dishes and passed them to Finn, who dried them and put them away. They worked in a comfortable silence, but the words Rachel had heard from Finn's friends remained in the back of her mind.
Finally, she put the last dish down and turned to Finn. "Finn," Rachel said quietly.
"Yeah, baby?" Finn asked as he dried the dish she had discarded.
"What your friends said today… was it true?"
Finn almost dropped the dish he was holding. His shoulders tensed and he let out a little breath before he slowly turned towards Rachel. He saw that her face was calm, but her eyes held so much pain that Finn almost broke. He had put all of that pain and sadness there, and now he was making it his mission to make sure that she was happy from now on.
Finn took Rachel's hand and went downstairs, into his bedroom. Going over to his closet, he dug around in the back until he had pulled out his uniform. He hadn't touched it since shoving it in there when he had first returned home. He searched through the pockets until he pulled out a battered, dog-eared picture. Without a word, he handed it to Rachel.
She unfolded it and was surprised to find a picture of her and Finn from senior year. It was before he had proposed to her, before they had even slept together for the first time. It had been before anything had come between them, when everything was still perfectly wonderful and happy.
It had been during a Hummel family cookout. Rachel was sitting on Finn's lap. They had originally tried to pose for the picture, but Finn had tickled Rachel's sides at the last moment. She was squealing and laughing, and there was no denying the bright look of utter happiness on her face. Finn had his head thrown back in laughter, but it was obvious in the way he was holding her how much he loved her.
"I took that picture with me wherever I went," Finn said quietly. "Even when I was stateside, I had it. Whenever I left base, I put it in my pocket, here." He covered the area over his heart to demonstrate. "I just felt… closer to you. It really was my good luck charm." His fingers traced the burnt corner of the picture. "I had it with me on the day… the day of the attack."
"Finn," Rachel whispered. She didn't really know what to say to him. But she loved him that much more at his admission. She reached out and took his face in both of her hands, cupping his cheeks. She brushed away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks before she pressed her lips to his.
Finn pulled Rachel into his arms and hugged her tightly. Rachel hugged him in return and was so thankful that they had found their way back to each other.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. I really appreciate the silent readers, and I'd also like to hear from you guys, too! I'd also love to know what your favorite part of this chapter was. Let me know what you think!