Chapter 21 - Home for the Holidays
He woke up at dawn, and light slowly flooded into the room. He looked down to see Quinn still asleep, drooling slightly on his shirt. He carefully untangled himself from Quinn without waking her up. He rolled off the side of the bed. He went into his duffel and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. He heard Kurt talking to someone on the phone in the other room and Finn didn't want to disturb him. He checked his watch. It was 12 pm and they were leaving for the airport in 4 hours. He decided to walk into the living room and start working on another song. There was a guitar already in the room so he picked it up and started working on new song ideas. Before he knew it, it was 2 pm and Kurt finally emerged from his room.
"Morning, you were on the phone for a while," Finn commented as Kurt walked towards him.
"Yeah it was Blaine. He's flying into Toledo in 3 days."
"That's cool."
"Is Quinn awake yet?"
"I don't think so."
"She didn't sleep much, when you were on mission. She kept having nightmares. I think she's catching up on all of that sleep."
Finn dropped his head and checked his watch. It was 2:14.
"I should probably wake her, shouldn't I?"
"Yeah that would be a good idea. We need to leave in less than 2 hours."
Finn nodded and walked over to his bedroom. Sure enough, Quinn was still fast asleep. He gently whispered her name in her ear. She started to stir and eventually woke up. She reached out, her arms wrapping around his neck, and unsuccessfully tried to pull him into the bed. He gently lifted her up and set her at the foot of the bed. She rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning," she said, yawning.
"Well, good afternoon actually. You slept for quite a while."
"What time is it?" she asked.
"It's 2:15 in the afternoon. Babe, you've been sleeping for more than 12 hours."
"Oh my god, I need to pack!" she cried.
"Don't worry. I took care of that. Kurt picked an outfit for you to wear on the plane. It's on the other bed right now."
Quinn quickly took a shower and changed into her clothes for the flight and an hour and a half later, they got into a cab to take them to the airport.
"Hey Quinn, did you ever receive the flight confirmation?" Kurt asked.
"No, I thought you had."
"It's fine, guys. We're going to the airport anyways. We can ask there."
They nodded and arrived at JFK shortly after. Kurt and Quinn started walking over to the check-in desk but Finn stopped them.
"Chill out guys, let's just go this way. It's much faster," he commented, pointing to the other direction.
"Finn, that's for first class only."
"Trust me, OK. First class is 99% attitude and 1% money." Finn started walking towards the first-class check-in desk. Kurt and Quinn looked at each other in confusion and worry.
"What the hell happened to him?" Kurt asked.
"I don't know. Hopefully he won't get us arrested," Quinn replied as they followed Finn. They arrived at the desk a minute later and there was no queue so Finn walked straight to the flight attendant behind the desk. He gave them his passport and they looked at it.
"Ah Mr. Hudson. And two people with you. Right this way." They followed the attendant who led them to a quick security check. They were through security pretty quickly and made it to the first class lounge.
"See guys, 99% attitude." Finn remarked.
Quinn and Kurt's mouths dropped. What just happened?
"What the F…" Kurt started, but was cut off when a flight steward walked up to them.
"Finn! Great to see you again. Please, follow me."
Finn turned to his brother and girlfriend. "When you guys have picked your jaws up off the ground, let's go."
He started to follow the man and Quinn and Kurt followed. The flight attendant led them to a side door, which led them out of the airport.
"Finn, is he going to kill us?" Quinn asked, slightly alarmed and worried.
"Ha! Don't worry! Mug us maybe, but kill us no."
He noticed Quinn's eyes widen.
"I'm joking, babe. Calm down."
She grabbed his arm. "Well, now you've scared me even more than I already was. Finn's we don't even have plane tickets. Why could we possibly be out here?"
"That's why!" he replied, pointing to the jet they had just arrived next to. Finn walked straight up the stairs and onto the jet. Quinn and Kurt hesitantly followed. They walked onto a private jet without any passengers, but with 2 stewardesses and a pilot and co-pilot.
"Private jet home baaaaaby!" he shouted as he put his baggage in a locker and collapsed on a seat.
"Wait, what?" Quinn asked. She and Kurt were now totally at a loss.
"We're flying in private jet to Toledo. Now sit down, relax and enjoy yourselves. Flying in a private jet is aaaaawesome."
They smiled and sat down in the plush armchairs. They all did whatever they wanted for the first half hour of the flight. Kurt read a Vogue Magazine, Quinn relaxed onto the sofa and Finn sat in front of the massive TV and played video games. He turned to his girlfriend.
"Are you seriously going to go back to sleep? You slept like 14 hours last night, babe," he laughed.
"I'm not going back to sleep. It's just I can finally relax now. You're home for a month and you're not in combat. I don't have to worry for another month." Finn paused his game and sat up next to her.
"Babe, you never have to worry about me. I'm always coming back."
"I know, and I trust you when you say that. It's just when I know you're on a mission, I can't help but think about you being shot at."
Finn nodded. "OK, I want you to do something for me. Whenever I'm away, and you start to think about me being in the line of fire, I want you to think of a good memory we've had together. It'll help take your mind off of it."
She smiled at him. "Deal."
They spent the rest of the flight having fun. The late lunch/early dinner came about an hour into the flight. It was absolutely divine again. They touched down in Toledo at around 7pm. They took a cab back to Lima, and arrived at around 8:30pm. They walked into Finn and Kurt's house and Finn was immediately embraced by his mom. His mom was overjoyed that Finn was safe. They spent the rest of the night talking and catching up, as Finn hadn't seen his family in almost half a year. By midnight, they were all starting to drift off, so they all went to sleep.
The next morning, as always, Finn woke up at dawn. He carefully untangled himself from Quinn. Thank god she was a deep sleeper, or she would be massively inconvenienced by his crazy sleep schedule. He went to the gym and worked out for 4 hours. He needed to make sure his fitness level didn't drop, as there were already rumours of a mission in the jungle climate. He was in the middle of his workout, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see an african-american guy, probably around 17 years old, looking at him.
"Hi, can I help you?" Finn asked, smiling.
"Yeah. I couldn't help but notice you're wearing a Navy SEAL hoodie. Are you a SEAL yourself?"
"Yeah."
"So what were the first 3 obstacles on the obstacle course?" he asked curiously.
Finn raised an eyebrow. "Parallel bars, tires and then the low/high walls. Why?"
The guy broke out into a smile. "Sorry about that. It's just I've met loads of people before you say they're SEALs but are clearly phony. So I learnt to ask a question to see if the person's legitimate."
Finn nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about those quite a bit. I've met quite a few as well. My favourite was when a guy told me he was a SEAL, and I asked what SEAL team he was on. He told me SEAL Team 9. There literally isn't a SEAL team 9. There's 8 and there's 10."
"Wow. That's kind of sad."
Finn thought for a moment. "Yeah. But in future, you should probably ask a question that only a SEAL would know. Like anyone can find the obstacle course on youtube. But you should ask something like: have you ever shot a draeger?"
"But isn't a draeger a…"
"Diving rig," Finn cut him off. "Yeah. But not many people know that. You seem to know a lot about SEALs, but you look a little young. Did your dad serve or something?"
"No actually, I'm planning to enlist next year. It'll give me a way out of Lima, and it's always been my dream to fight for my country."
"Yeah, I hear that man. That's exactly why I joined. I bounced around foster care all over the world for a long time, and fighting for the US really made it feel like home to me."
"My name's Carl Jackson by the way. I've been looking to talk to a SEAL about some questions I had before I decide to enlist for sure. That's why I've met so many phony SEALs."
"Yeah, I feel like 90% of the phony SEALs do it to impress women. Anyway, I'd be happy to answer any questions you had. I'm here for the next month. And I'm happy to show you a traditional SEAl workout to see if it's something you're into. Because you'll have to go through a year of it in training."
"I mean yes please, if it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all. Do you want to go get a cup of coffee? I can answer any of your questions."
"Yes please. Thank you so much."
"Not a problem, man." Finn and Carl walked out of the gym and to the Lima Bean. They both got cups of coffee and sat down in a booth.
"So man, what do you want to know. I'll try and answer as much as I can, but know that some things I can't answer as they are classified."
"OK, thank you so much for this by the way."
"Buddy, you've said that like ten times. And anyways, the more people we recruit, the more people are on mission with us and that lessens the chance of me getting hurt."
"OK, so my first question, have you ever gotten hurt on a mission?"
"I've actually just been on one mission. Nobody in my team was harmed. I'm pretty sure less than 1% of people actually die on mission so…"
"Well that's refreshing. And a good fact to use on my family. My mom and girlfriend are very much against me going. So how did you convince your family?"
"Well, actually they were really supportive. They knew I wasn't kidding around and they knew that there was nothing they could say that would change my mind."
"Yeah, I mean I feel like they know deep down that I'm doing this, and them not supporting me isn't going to make me change my mind."
"Yeah, and you got to explain all of the goods that come from being a SEAL. It teaches you leadership and teamwork like nothing else can. It helps you meet guys from all over the country, and you instantly become brothers with them, as you know that sooner or later, your life is going to depend on them. The Navy also helps pay for college. But most of all, it gives you a purpose and a cause to fight for. You're fighting for your kids to have freedom in their lifetime. Joining the SEALs was the best decision I ever made."
"That's good to hear. Ok. Next question, and I want you to answer this honestly, how hard is training?"
Finn laughed. "Well, actually, I got off pretty easy. I only spent just over 6 months in training. Not to brag or anything, but my scores in all of the training tests were some of the best in Navy history. But even so, training was the hardest experience of my life. And it's not just physical, it's also the emotional exhaustion. I came so close to ringing the bell on the 5th day of Hell week. But I stuck it out, and now, looking back, I'm so glad I did."
"Is there like an actual bell that you ring if you want to quit?"
"Yup, it's in the center of the training camp in Coronado. You have to ring the bell three times and take off your helmet. That means you've dropped out. It's a really common occurrence. Of all of the guys I started with, only 10% graduated from BUD/s."
"How did you deal with it, when it got rough?"
"Well, I would think about why I'm doing this. And how much I'd regret it if I quit. I would also think about my girlfriend, who was waiting for me when I finished training."
"She's really important to you, huh?"
"Yeah, the most important person in my life. You said you also had a girlfriend?"
"I do, but she gave me an ultimatum: her or the Navy. That's part of the reason I'm hesitant."
"Look man, I don't mean to overstep, but is that really the kind of person you want to be with? There are around 600 million women in this world between the ages of 15-24. I'm sure that there's someone out there for you. Someone who supports, nay appreciates what you do. But, on the other hand, you can't expect her to be ok with it overnight, especially if she loves you. She probably is scared something will happen to you."
"Thanks man. You're really good at advice."
"Any day. You have any more questions?"
"Yeah. I don't think you mentioned what team you're in?"
"I can't tell you that until I retire. Navy SEALs aren't technically allowed to say what team they're in until retirement, but many people break that rule."
"That's ok. And another thing I was curious about is the use of weapons. What kind of weapons do you guys use?"
"Well, that would depend on what specialist field you're going into? Of course we're trained to use most guns to a certain extent, but in SQT we had to choose our specialist field. So like snipers using sniper rifles. Close quarters combat using a shotgun. But most people just choose to use your basic M4 or M16."
"What do you use?"
"Well, like I said, I've only been on one mission. In that mission, I used a Kalashnikov. But in training, because I'm trained for close quarters, I use my Kalashnikov, a Tactical Remington 870 Express, as well as explosives."
"I know this is a very touchy topic, and I don't mean to sound insensitive or anything. You don't have to answer if you don't want to but…"
"Have I killed someone?" Finn interrupted.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I knew it was coming. And you're right, it is a very touchy topic. And don't mention it to many SEALs. They'd probably pound you into the ground. But it's ok. I can answer it. Yes, I have killed people."
"If you don't mind my asking, what is it like?"
"Well, one thing you have to prepare for, is that not everyone you have to shoot is a big, burly terrorist with a machine gun. There are also women and children, who have been forced to hold a gun. You have to pull the trigger because you know that if you hesitate, it could mean the death of someone on your team. As for what it's like, I'm not going to lie, it's brutal. Everytime you pull the trigger, it's like a small piece of your soul dies. But you know you have to do it. The whole point of training for a year was make sure that you don't hesitate in the face of combat. A second wasted, could mean the death of your whole team. You learn to make split second decisions and you pull the trigger then, think about moral implications later."
"So do you think I should join the SEALs? You've given great selling points both for and against."
"Well it depends. Why are you joining? I know the guys in training who drop out, are usually the ones who join for the bragging rights. Or to use the fact that their SEALs to pick up girls. If you're doing it for those reasons then don't waste your time. But if you're doing it so you can genuinely make a difference, then I have no doubt you'll make a great SEAL. The past year and a half as a soldier was the best time of my life."
"Well thank you so much for this. You've given me a lot to think about."
"No problem. And here's my number, in case you have any more questions. Oh and please text me when you decide. I'm kind of curious to see what you're going to do." Finn gave Carl his number and Finn walked out of the cafe. It was 11 am and he drove home. To his surprise, everyone was already awake, and were all in the dining room.
"Hey Finn, where have you been?" Kurt asked, curiously.
"I was at the gym, then some guy came up to me and told me he wanted to be a SEAL. We went and got coffee and he asked me loads of questions. He's still deciding whether or not he'll enlist."
"Oh, what did you tell him?" Quinn asked.
"I just told him that it depends what reason he's doing it for. If he's doing it as some way to try and get girls, chances are he'll drop out in training so don't bother. But if he's doing it for the reason of wanting to help others and defend the country, then by all means go for it."
Everyone nodded. "By the way, Finn you have mail."
"From who? Who in god's name uses mail anymore?"
"The Navy. You have two letters from the Navy."
Finn had a worried look on his face. "I wonder what they want. I didn't do anything wrong." He walked over to the table and opened the first one. A relieved look came across his face.
"It's just a christmas card." He smiled.
"Who's it from?" Kurt asked.
"The Obamas."
Kurt coughed and spat out the water he had just taken a sip from.
"You got a christmas card from the president of the United States?" Kurt asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, he's a really nice person actually. Why do you think we travelled home on a private jet? And he kinda owes me. Without me, the mission would have failed and the U.S would look really bad."
"OK, and what's in the second one? A card from Bill Gates?"
"Ha! I wish. I have no idea what's in this one. It's from my Captain."
Finn opened the envelope. There was a USB stick, and a letter. Finn read through the letter and he dropped the USB stick in shock. His face went pale.
"Finn, is everything OK?" Quinn asked. Finn's hand started shaking.
"Finn, what's wrong?" Kurt asked.
"My therapy wants me to watch what's on the tape."
"What's on the tape?" Quinn asked.
"It's the video of the mission I just went on. My therapist said it would help me get closure on the whole thing."
"Do you want us to watch with you?"
"NO! Sorry, it's just I don't want anyone to see this. It's not like it's an action movie. All of the gun scenes actually involve killing people. I don't want you guys to have to watch me become a killer."
"Finn, you need to watch that tape."
"I'll watch it later."
Finn put the USB stick in one of the drawers in the living room and ignored it for the rest of the day. After a few hours, he and Kurt drove to the supermarket to pick up some groceries. Quinn's curiosity was killing her. She needed to know what had happened on the mission that had scarred her boyfriend. She grabbed the USB from the drawer and was about to connect it to the TV when she heard Finn and Kurt walk in. She didn't have enough time to put the USB stick back, so put it in her pocket. She walked to the kitchen, where Finn and Kurt were unloading the groceries. She bent down to pick up a shopping bag to unload when the USB stick fell out of her pocket and onto the floor with a CLATTER. Both Finn and Kurt's eyes widened when they saw what had fallen out of her pocket. Finn's expression went from shocked, to stony in a matter of seconds.
"Quinn, did you watch what was on the tape?" he said, in a low but dangerous voice.
"No. I didn't. I swear!"
"Were you about to before we walked in?"
"Finn, I…"
"Seriously Quinn. Are you kidding me? After I explicitly asked you guys not to, you took the tape without my permission and would have watched it had me and Kurt arrived 30 minutes later. That tape contains the biggest secret in my whole life. My biggest shame. The reason I have nightmares every night. And you were willing to watch it behind my back? I need some air…" Finn said and grabbed the USB stick from the floor. He picked up his coat and walked out the door without saying a word.
He drove all the way to Columbus and knocked on Dirty's door. Dirty opened it, looking at his friend in realisation.
"I take it you got the tape."
"Yeah, have you watched it yet?"
"I'm scared to, and I only killed two people. You killed 16. I can't imagine how you feel."
"Yeah, no kidding. Can I watch it with you?"
"Sure man. Come on in."
Finn stepped into the house and they walked into the living room. Finn saw that their car was not in the driveway so he knew that Maricruz was out.
"Are you going to show the tape to Maricruz?" Finn asked.
"Maybe. I don't know. She said that she'd support my decision either way."
"Yeah Quinn said the same thing. Two hours later I came home and she had stolen the tape and was about to watch it."
"Oof. That's harsh," Dirty sympathised as they connected the USB stick to the TV. They sat onto the sofa and started the video.
It started with the first person footage from the helicopter. It showed both the journey the helicopter was taking, as well as showing quick clips of what was going on in the helicopter. They were preparing for the mission. Finally the mission started and it was taken from Finn's point of view when he blasted through the door. They could always see who's point of view it was from as the name of the soldier, and the time of the footage was shown at the bottom of the screen. If it wasn't real footage of him and his team, he would be kind of excited. It was like a really cool action movie. But he knew what was coming, so he was full of dread. He watched as they raided the first floor. The screen then split into two, as Finn and Dirty split up from Clint, Jack and John. Finn was curious to see what they had to do. He watched as they raided a room on the first floor. To his surprise, there were 4 people in it: two men and two women, all of whom were holding guns. Dirty and Finn watched as they cleared the room and kept on going. They watched as they met up with Clint, Jack and John on the third floor and stormed the main room on the top floor. Finn's heart started pounding. He watched as he took out the child. However, watching from a different perspective made him notice something.
'Stop the tape!" he said.
"Finn are you OK?" Dirty asked, worried about his friend.
"Yeah, I just noticed something. Rewind 5 seconds." he declared. Dirty, confused, rewinded the tape and they watched the last few seconds of the tape again. He watched carefully as he saw the child raise the gun, and his finger curl around the trigger before Finn shot him. Finn let out a sigh of relief.
"Is everything OK, man?"
"I feel so much better now. Look, he raised the gun, curled a finger on the trigger and tensed his shoulder. He was going to shoot us! I wasn't being a cold-hearted child murderer after all!"
"Finn, nobody ever thought that."
"I did! That makes me feel a lot better."
They watched the rest of the video. Finn felt a lot better as he watched himself break down the wall and kill Osama Bin Laden. They watched themselves carry the body back to the choppers and fly back to the base. Finn smiled when they finished watching the tape.
"I feel so much better now. Oh my god, it feels like a whole load has been lifted off my shoulders. I got to get home now."
Dirty smiled at him. "Glad you feel better, man."
"Wait a minute, Maricruz has got to be like 7 months pregnant now, right?"
"Yeah, I'm just sad I won't be here for the birth of my kid."
"That may be, but you'll be there for the kid's first day of elementary school, Middle School, High School. You'll teach the kid how to drive. You'll get to drop him off at college. And the best part is that you're going to be that kid's hero."
"Thanks, Finn. Our kid is lucky to have a godfather like you."
"Did you guys find out the baby's gender by the way?"
"Nah, we're waiting. But we decided on a name."
"Oh really? What is it?"
"Well, for a girl, Cristina, and for a boy, Chris. Chris was the name of Maricruz's late father."
"That's awesome, man. I'm so happy for you both. Anyways, I need to get home now. Kurt and Quinn are probably freaking out a bit."
They said goodbye to each other and Finn drove home. When he arrived home, as he expected, all of the lights were still on. He walked into the house, and a teary-eyed Quinn threw herself into his arms. She cried into his shoulder.
"Where were you? I was so worried about you! Don't you ever scare me like that again Finn Hudson!" she cried.
"I was in Columbus. I wanted to watch the tape with Dirty."
Quinn nodded. "Finn, I'm so sorry about what I did. I violated your privacy again."
"Quinn, it's ok. I watched the video with Dirty and my doctor was right. I do feel a lot better. If you want to see it, I don't mind anymore. And Kurt already knows what I felt so guilty about."
"Are you sure? I want to know what happened, but I don't want to overstep."
"It's ok. I feel a lot less guilty now about what I did."
They connected the USB to the TV and Kurt, Quinn and Finn watched the video. Quinn and Kurt watched the whole thing without saying a word.
"Well I can see why the president owes you one," Kurt laughed. "They wouldn't have spotted the wall from the command center."
"That's not the part I focus on though when I watch this video." Finn said. "I usually focus on the part when I shoot the kid."
"Well, I mean you didn't have a choice. When you told me about it in New York, I expected the child to be unarmed, and you were paranoid and shot him. This is totally different. You had no choice." His brother said.
"What do you think, Quinn?" Finn asked, nervously.
"I think that you did your job. The person would have shot you or your fellow Officers if you hadn't done what you did. You saved lives, Finn."
He gave his girlfriend a huge hug and was relieved. They spent the next hour talking about the future. Kurt wanted to stay in New York after college as he wanted to make it on Broadway, but Quinn had decided that after college, she wanted to move to L.A to become a professional journalist. Finn was interested to hear what Quinn wanted to do after college, but it made him think. He had no idea what he was going to do after he got discharged from the SEALs. He put it out of his mind. He needed to focus fully on the years ahead. He needed to be fully concentrated if he wanted to survive.
On Christmas Eve, the whole Glee Club came to Finn and Kurt's house and they all welcomed Finn back. They ordered pizza for dinner and were hanging out when Rachel sidled up to Finn.
"Hey Rachel, what's up?"
"I have a bet for you. You remember how you somehow managed to sneak a win last time?"
"No, I remember that I absolutely destroyed you and it was almost unanimous. Why?"
"I want a rematch."
"Hell no, you've obviously been working on something and I'm sure it's really good so I'm going to fall for this. But if you want to use a song you've recorded, that might work for me."
"OK, how about this? I have a song prepared and I've already recorded it in the NYADA studio. You can have a week to record your own song."
Suddenly Finn's phone buzzed and he smiled widely.
"What's going on, Finn?" Kurt asked.
"It's just confirmed where I'm going to be for my next mission and I'm really excited."
"Where are you going to be?" Puck asked, curiously.
"I can't tell you where, but I'm going to get to go to the rainforest for the first time. Anyways, sorry Rachel, I cut you off. What were you saying?"
"Yeah, so I have a song recorded. You have a week to record something too. Then we have the Glee Club vote."
"Does it have to be an original song?" Finn asked.
"Nah, you can do covers." Rachel replied.
"And can it be a duet?"
"Sure, I guess."
"OK, you've got yourself a deal Berry. How much money are we talking?"
"Ummmm I'm not sure I want to bet a thousand again, but what about $200."
"You got yourself a deal, Berry," Finn said, shaking her hand. "Well I got something now if you want."
"OK let's do it."
"Well, given that I'm champion right now, and you're challenging me, you gotta start. Not that it makes any difference. It's already been recorded."
Rachel nodded and connected her phone to the speaker. She played her song.
*Sings Get it Right from Glee*
"Wow, Rach, that was actually good. How long did it take you to write?" Finn said, astonished.
"Like the whole term," she replied sheepishly. "Now, Finn, what are you playing for us."
"Well, I recorded this in Washington. What I didn't tell you guys, is that when we met the president, we also met a few celebrities. Namely, Dwayne Johnston, Kevin Hart and Lady Gaga."
"YOU MET ALL THESE PEOPLE? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?" Mercedes screamed.
"Well it was part of my plan. I knew Rachel would try and rematch our bet, and I knew she would have recorded something in NYADA. So I asked Lady Gaga if we could record a duet really quickly. We didn't have enough time to write one, so we just covered an existing one."
"OK, now I'm interested." Blaine said. "Let's hear this."
"Just saying, this was one afternoon of recording, and 2 days of me editing it. That's it." Finn stated.
"OK, now play the damn song!" Kurt yelled.
"Sir, yes, sir," Finn shouted back, laughing. He connected his phone to the speaker.
*Sings Shallow by Bradley Cooper and Lady gaga*
At the end of the song, Finn unplugged his phone from the speaker. He turned to the Glee Club, whose jaws were all hanging.
"So, what did you think?" Finn asked, nervously.
"Finn, that's absolutely incredible. You recorded that in one day?"
"Yeah, because we had 3 days before we had to leave. She helped me edit the song as well."
"OK, let's vote," Mike said.
This time, it was a unanimous vote for Finn, but Rachel handled the defeat a lot better this time. She took out the money from her purse, but Finn shook his head.
"I don't want it. You keep it. I didn't accept the bet for the money. I was just trying to prove a point."
"And what point was that?" she asked.
"That I'm better than you."
"Well, I gotta admit. You achieved it."
Everyone stared at her like she had sprouted a third arm.
"OK, who are you and what have you done to Berry?" Puck asked.
"Haha, very funny Noah. I'm trying to be a little less, you know…"
"Overdramatic"
"Diva"
"Overemotional"
People started chiming in.
"OK, guys. I get it. I could be a bit selfish. But I'm trying to change that."
"Wow, this Rachel is actually kind of nice." Tina said.
They spent the rest of the night singing karaoke, catching up and playing games together. Puck walked up to Finn close to the end of the night.
"Finn, you know our paintball bet from last year?"
"Yeah."
"Do you seriously want to repeat that? It did not end well for you or me last time." Kitty called from across the room. Everyone laughed.
"Nah, not paintball. A fight, MMA style. Tomorrow morning."
Finn laughed. "You can't be serious. I could probably beat up every person in this room at the same time. I could fight you with my eyes closed."
Sam walked over to the pair. "OK tough guy. Then why don't we do the football guys: me, Puck, Mike, Jake and Ryder against you."
"5 on 1. Piece of cake," Finn responded cooly. "How about this? If you win, I pay each of you a 100 bucks. But if I win, you guys pay me 500."
"Deal. What are the rules?" Puck asked greedily. He knew Finn was military, but still underestimated Finn's abilities.
"Let's say you guys have to pin me for 3 seconds to win the match. I have to pin one of you guys. Oh, should we wear gloves or not? Your decision."
"Yes, we'll wear gloves. Can we kick?"
"Of course we can kick. But if you kick to the groin, you're disqualified and the other team wins."
"Deal," he said and the two boys shook hands. Quinn walked over to Finn with a worried look on her face. "Really, Finn? 5 on 1? Are you sure? Like you can get seriously injured!"
"Don't worry babe," he reassured her, giving her a kiss. "I'm trained for this kind of thing. And I literally specialise in Close Quarters Combat so…"
"But you have a gun in those scenarios."
"Yeah, but what happens if your gun jams? Or you run out of ammo? You gotta fight with your hands."
"OK. But you better not be put in the hospital Finn!" she warned him. He laughed.
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