Yay, another update!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 19

Seeing grandfather was like a punch in the face for Finn. He looked over to Kurt who was sitting at the table with Tina and Brittany, laughing about the card the girls had written for him. Finn wanted to prohibit that he spotted grandfather.

That day was supposed to be wonderful for Kurt, he deserved it.

Unfortunately, grandfather came to the backyard directly without ringing the doorbell. At the moment Kurt spotted him, Finn felt faint. Kurt stopped laughing, and within a couple of seconds, he had paled. After he had composed himself, he shook his head, got up and walked over to his grandfather.

"You are unwanted here", Kurt said coldly, his tone was harsh.

James cocked his eyebrow sneeringly.

Blaine joined him. "That's our party. And as far as I know, you are not invited." He looked like he wanted to drag James out of the backyard with his bare hands.

Finn exchanged worried glances with Kurt. Who did grandfather think he was? Showing up and disturbing them like that?

Without thinking, Finn laid down the plate on the buffet and came over to James. "What do you want?"

James looked around in the colorfully decorated garden, smiling deviously. "I'm here to talk to you.", he said quietly. It was dead silent in the backyard all of a sudden.

"You don't react to my e-mails."

"Why do you think that I want to talk to you?", Finn answered coldly.

James looked somewhat angry right now. That same anger always made him raise his hands against Finn.
Although Finn promised to himself to never hit someone ever again, he wouldn't stand still whenever grandfather tried to hurt him.

"Come with me. Blaine is right. You won't ruin Kurt's day.", Finn said, nodding to the house.

Mildred, having watched their interaction, got up and walked over to James and Finn. "James", she said when they were about to enter. "Why did you have to come today of all days?"

James didn't look at her. "That's something between me and my grandson", he said and entered the house. "Mind your own business."

"You made it my business when you sent your grandson to me", she answered. Her tone was ice cold, and Finn had never heard her talk like that before.

He could see how James' shoulders tensed up. At this moment, Rachel, Sam, Puck and Mercedes entered the wintergarden. They stopped in their tracks.

"It's okay, Mildred", Finn said quietly.

He needed to do everything so that grandfather could leave asap so that he wouldn't come near Kurt or Rachel. He would never forgive himself if that happened.

"Let's go to the dining room", Finn suggested.

James followed him when they left the wintergarden, ignoring the worried glances of their entourage. At the dining room, Finn closed the door behind him.

"What is so important that you turned up on Kurt's and Blaine's party?", Finn asked, trying everything to sound calm.

"I didn't know that the relationship of a teacher and his student would be a reason to celebrate. Besides, nobody informed me about Kurt's leisure activities."

"As if you would have come if Kurt had invited you."

James kept a straight face.

"What do you want, grandfather?"

Although it was warm, like always in May, James wore a dark suit with a tie and everything, looking like the perfect businessman.

"I thought that your exit of our firm has been a youthful rebellion", he started. "But in the meantime, more than five weeks have passed."

"So?"

James' mouth twitched. "I just wonder when you will realize that you can never sell your Hummel-Hudson parts."

Finn shuddered a bit. "According to the contract, I just have to find an appropriate partner."

"Do you really think you will get a majority within the head who agrees to the selling of the parts to Sofia Dove?"

Finn's heart skipped a beat. His mouth went dry. Grandfather knew about his plans, and he knew that he wanted to sell the parts to Sofia. He knew that Sofia had the same visions for the enterprise like grandmother – and he knew what grandfather wanted to say next.

Finn laughed bitterly. He would never be able to let go of Hummel-Hudson's; he would never pass the legacy of grandmother to a good person. He should have known it.

Shaking his head, he looked at James. "You are unbelievable."

James tensed up. "I try to save the heritage of our family and you just destroy everything. Just like Christopher."

Finn needed to flinch when James mentioned his dad. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. "It's not the heritage of our family, it's the heritage of grandmother's family. And Mildred's.", he hissed. "And I don't destroy anything. I have no use for it. Why don't you get it?"

"You didn't even try. When it got serious, you just left."

"You almost destroyed the future of my girlfriend. You wanted to pay off the man Kurt loves so that he leaves. If you really think that I can look you in the face without feeling nauseous, then…" He shook his head. "I don't know what to say to you, then."

James just looked at him, saying nothing.

"Why are you here?", Finn asked again.

"To tell you that I want to see you at the head's meeting at three pm this Monday." He straightened out his tie.

"Did you even listen to me in the last ten minutes?"

"Yes."

"What if I don't come? Do you want to force me to work at Hummel-Hudson's?"

Although it was a rhetorical question, James kept straight face.

Finn stared at him with an open mouth. "You can't be serious, right?"

"I want to end that feud between us, grandson.", he started. "I want us to be on the same side again."

"I won't return to the firm, grandfather. Never."

For a while, they were just staring at each other, Finn's gaze was determined, James' gaze was dark.

Shrugging, James retrieved his phone from his pocket. "You left me no other choice."

"What do you mean?", Finn asked, feeling faint because of his words.

But James ignored him. He typed something into his phone. "I tried it peacefully. But you are obsessed with throwing away your future so that I have no other choice than to push you to the right direction."

Finn would never ever allow his grandfather to intimidate him like that. Never again.

He took a deep breath. "You don't need to; I will find my way alone. If you only came here to threaten me, instead of congratulating your grandson and celebrating with us, just leave and never come back."

James just smiled. "Did you know that Hiram Berry leaves five minutes before work ends? Every day? What if an anonymous witness can confirm it? And even prove it?"

Finn froze.

"Or that LeRoy Berry takes goods home from their workplace's bakery? Although it's forbidden?"

"But they would throw it away", Finn said quietly. "You sound like he would steal it or something."

James shrugged. "What do you think will his new boss think about it? Do you want to risk it?"

Finn couldn't breathe properly anymore. "What do you think will the Berrys do without family income?"

"Grandfather…"

He clicked his tongue. "Oh, and there is also your girlfriend, Rachel." He spelled her name with so much disrespect that Finn wanted to punch him so hard. But he was still shocked about the words he had said about her dads.

"Do you really think that she has a chance at NYADA? Or Harvard? If her scholarship vanishes in thin air? And her acceptances?"

Finn's head started spinning.

"Do you really think the recommendatory letter of a teacher that got suspended because he slept with a student will save her? I doubt that."

"You would never do that", Finn croaked.

"I'm a man of his words, you know that exactly."

My grandfather is crazy, Finn thought panickily. He has lost his mind.

"What did the Berrys ever do to you?", he asked.

James walked up and down the dining room, hands folded behind his back. "I always told you, I will do everything to save the reputation of Hummel-Hudson's."

He looked out of the window and turned to Finn again. "It's your choice, Finn."

Finn knew grandfather. He knew that he meant each single word he had just said.

The happiness he felt the past weeks, the hope that his life was worth living – everything was gone, every little piece, within a couple of minutes.

He had lost. Game over.

Finn felt how the impenetrable mask he hated so much came back to his face, as if it had never been gone. "What do you want me to do?", he asked tonelessly.

After James Hudson had left, the mood among the party guests turned from festive to bad within seconds.

Finn returned to the backyard, having paled and with a glance that made Rachel feel panicked. But when they asked him what had happened, he didn't answer, continuing eating his food with a blank face expression.

After that, the party was ruined, and everyone just left.
At least, Rachel could talk to Finn on their way home, because he had made her more and more nervous, and she wanted to know why he acted like that.

"Talk to me", she whispered to Finn when the both of them sat in the limousine for half an hour, and nobody had said anything.

Finn who had looked out of the window, turned to her, pulled her closer and kissed her.

"Finn…", she whispered after he had pulled away.

His hands trembled.

"I'm so sorry", he said roughly. "I…I'm so sorry."

"What?" Rachel looked at him, confused. She squeezed his hands. "Finn, you are scaring me."

What the encounter with his grandfather had done to him was killing her. "What happened?"

Finn ruffled his hair desperately. "Grandfather…" He tried searching for the right words. "He…He has won."

"What?", Rachel whispered.

"On Monday, I will return to Hummel-Hudson's." He cleared his throat. "And tonight, I will return home."

"No", she blurted out. "No, Finn." Her heart skipped a beat when she grabbed his hand. "No matter what he said, we will find a way."

"There is too much at stake. It's too risky."

Rachel shook her head.

"Rachel…"

"No! No matter how he blackmails you – it's not worth giving up your future."

He looked at her for a long time, saying nothing, before he sighed deeply. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"But…how does he blackmail you?", she asked quietly.

Finn shook his head, but she didn't accept it. "We swore not to keep things from each other anymore."

"Rachel…"

"You promised it to me!"

"He will destroy your family", he finally admitted. "Not only Harvard and NYADA, but also everything that's important to you."

Rachel felt like she would suffocate any moment.

"You and your family have done so much for me.", Finn went on. "I can't allow it."

"We…" Rachel's throat was so dry all of a sudden. She cleared her throat. "We will find a way. He won't get away with that."

"Rachel, listen to me…"

"No way! I won't allow that you sacrifice your plans just for me, Finn. Our plans."

"It's not your decision.", Finn answered softly. He raised his hand and caressed her cheeks. Rachel backed away, frowning.

"How can you allow that he does those horrible things to you, again and again?", she asked, stunned.

Finn gritted his teeth.

"Don't dare saying nothing to me again", she hissed. "We are a team. You can't just…you can't just go."

He exhaled audibly. "The time with you – the time with your family - was the best time in my life. That was the only one that made me keep on moving on.", he said insistently. "But I…I have no other choice."

"You always have a choice!", Rachel answered energetically. "I can't not allow that you sacrifice your future for mine."

The sad smile was taking her breath away, in a negative way. She realized that she couldn't convince him anymore.

He had already made his choice.

Rachel's eyes burned with unshed tears and she needed to blink. "What did he do to you?", she whispered.

"I hope", Finn said hoarsely. "I hope you accept my decision and won't hate me."

She shook her head quickly. A tear was running down her cheek, Finn brushed it away with his thumb softly.

"I could never hate you, Finn."

He pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair.

…

After they had arrived in Lima, Rachel was exhausted, physically and mentally. Finn and she had spent the rest of the drive in each other's arms, not talking.

Today, James Hudson took away a part of Finn from her, and she hated him more than anything right now.

She fought back her tear when she watched Finn gather his belongings ffrom the guestroom and say goodbye to her dads who looked back and forth between him and Rachel, thinking that they had a fight or something.

Only after a couple of seconds after Rachel had shortly told them what had happened, Hiram took Finn in his arms.

"You are always welcome here", he whispered.

Finn closed his eyes shortly. "Thanks." He shook LeRoy's hand and left the house through the entrance door, going right to his car. He opened his trunk and put his bags inside it.

After he was done, he turned back to Rachel. "Okay." He cleared his throat.

"Okay", she whispered back.

Finn bit his lower lip and looked at her. "I will text you tomorrow."

Rachel was scared she would start crying any moment, so she just nodded. He leaned forward, kissing her softly.

After they pulled away from each other, Finn brushed the strands from her face. "I love you", he said roughly, and then, he turned around, opened the door and got in.

Not able to move, Rachel watched him drive away. Her heart was aching so bad. For him, for her, for them.

"Rachel?", a hesitant voice spoke up.

She turned around. Mercedes was hovering at their entrance door, indecisive. "I have forgotten my jacket at yours and…"

She stopped talking after she had seen in what state Rachel was. "Are you okay?"

Rachel opened her mouth to answer, but no single word was coming out of her mouth – instead, she sobbed, and Mercedes' eyes widened in shock. She quickly came over to Rachel and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, Rachel", Mercedes murmured and caressed her back while Rachel finally let the tears fall.