CHAPTER 25

Despite the hardships, Finn was actually having fun in Hawaii. He was earning good money - on a good day, he earnt almost 500 dollars. He spent what he needed to on food, and every week, he would put the rest in his bank account. Sure not having a home and not going to high school was inconvenient, but unlike his last homeless stint, he didn't feel physically threatened very often. He had been attacked once, in his third week, by a gang, but after he successfully fought them off, they left him alone. Who would try and pick on a 200 pound, 6'4 giant anyway? The people on the beach often changed as most people were there on a short vacation, so he was able to reuse set-lists on a two week cycle. The public loved his singing; he generated large crowds whenever he sang. Performing in front of crowds of sometimes up to a hundred people made him feel like a popstar, and he loved it.

Meanwhile, back in Ohio, Mr. Schue was driving over to Carme to look for their instructor - Shelby Corcoran. He wanted to confront her about her student dating his. He walked into the Carmel auditorium and his eyes widened when he watched the teenagers rehearse. They were singing AC/DC's Highway to Hell, complete with a fire machine. Next to Carmel, New Directions were no more than dirt on their shoes. At the end of the song, Shelby stood up.

"Stop, please, dear god, stop!" She shouted at the group. "Seriously guys? It's like watching beige paint dry. Could everyone please look at Jessie?"

Everyone turned to the brunette at the front of the stage.

"Jessie, give us a show face." Shelby told him. Jessie smiled widely, hands on his hips, and his body stick-straight.

"That is a show face, guys." Shelby explained to the group of elite singers and dancers. "You want to look so talented, it's literally hurting you. I want a look that's so optimistic, it could cure cancer."

Everyone put on a similar face to Jessie, and Shelby clapped.

"That's what I'm talking about. Take five, everybody drink a Red Bull!"

The whole group disassembled and went their separate ways for the break. Mr. Schue's eyes widened. This group meant business! He slowly walked over to Shelby and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to face him.

"Excuse me, Ms. Corcoran." He said. "Hi, I'm Will Schuester."

The two adults shook hands.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." She said, lying.

"I'm a big fan, really. Um… I also coach the McKinley Glee Club."

"I don't usually cotton too well to my competition sneaking in to watch a rehearsal." She murmured, putting some papers in her bag. "But I also have trouble seeing you guys as competition."

"I believe you have a student named Jesse St. James?" Mr. Schue continued. "And I think he might be dating one of my students. I'm more than a little concerned with the whole fraternizing with the enemy aspect of their relationship."

"You think we're spying on you?" She asked.

"Honestly? Yes."

Shelby nodded slowly and replied.

"Noted. Look, I don't stand for any funny business, and Jesse's a good kid. I mean, what can you do? The heart wants what the heart wants. Sometimes there's that little spark."

The next day, Rachel walked into Glee rehearsal with a huge smile on her face. She finally had a boyfriend, and they had so many similar interests. They were both into Broadway, fashion and many other things.

"Hey, guys." Rachel said, surprised. The whole Glee club was already in the choir room. Usually, she was the first to arrive.

"Cut the butter, Benedict Arnold." Santana said. "We heard about your new boyfriend."

"Look, Rachel, we're all happy that you're happy, but we've worked too hard in Glee Club to let you throw it all away on a relationship that might not even be real." Quinn said.

"Why? Cause he's in Vocal Adrenaline?" Rachel cried.

"Their motto is "aut neca aut necatus eris," which loosely translates to "murder or be murdered." Puck remarked.

"They give their dancers human growth hormone." Tina added.

"Look, we're not saying the dude is playing you…" Mercedes started, kindly, but Kurt interrupted her.

"He's playing you." Kurt said, sassily.

"We just think that until Nationals are over, we can't risk the possibility that he is." Mercedes, continued. She had sympathy in her eyes. Like Rachel, Mercedes knew how few people in Lima wanted to date people like them.

"None of us wanna go through what happened at sectionals again." Mike said.

"Okay, look. Jesse and I might not be true love, but what if we are? I know who I am. And how many chances at this am I gonna get?" Rachel argued.

The whole Glee club exchanged a look, and Kurt nodded.

"If you don't break up with him, you're out." Kurt said, bluntly. Rachel's jaw dropped.

"You can't kick me out!" She cried.

"But we can all quit if Mr. Schue doesn't." Artie blackmailed her.

"Well, good luck winning without me." She spat.

"Everyone is replaceable. Even you." Puck said.

"How could you do this to me?" Rachel whispered.

"How could you do this to us?" Mercedes argued back. "We're a team, and all you've ever wanted was for us to be great, and be a part of something special. Now, is that still true or not?"

Rachel's eyes filled with tears and she stormed out of the room. She immediately sent a text to Jessie.

We need to meet. NOW. R x

Her text was short, and to the point. She knew what she had to do. They had to break up, for the team. Her thought train was interrupted when she got a response.

Sure, come to the Carmel's auditorium ASAP. J xx

Rachel made her way over to Carmel in her pink mini-cooper car. She walked into the auditorium. It was empty.

"Jesse?" She called out to no answer. Suddenly, a mega-powerful spotlight shone on her. She jumped.

"Who's there?"

Again, no anwer.

"I carry a rape whistle!" She shouted into the darkness. Someone snickered. She turned towards the voice.

"Just me." She heard Jessie say, and he stepped on stage alongside her. She relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

"Most spots are 2,500 watts. This one is 10 times brighter." He exclaimed as both of them squinted at the spotlight. "We have to wear sunscreen on stage, but it's worth it."

"I guess everything is bigger and brighter here." Rachel said, glumly. Jessie giggled.

"I have to ask you something." She started. "And I need you to tell me the truth, because if you don't there will be consequences, life-and-death consequences. Because if I give myself to you, and it turns out that you're just playing me, I might die. Not literally, but emotionally. It'll be the kind of heartbreak that girls like me hold for the rest of their lives, like Barbra in "The Way We Were."

Jessie unexpectedly laughed.

"Oh my god." He chuckled and put his hands on Rachel's waist.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You're more of a drama queen than I am." He remarked and stepped back. He then held out a hand for her to shake.

"Hi, I'm Jesse." He said. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"I know who you are." She said.

"No, you know Jessie St. James, the star of Vocal Adrenaline, your competition at Nationals. I wanna introduce you to Jessie, the guy who's nuts about you. The guy who would never hurt you."

After his charming speech, the two of them embraced.

"No one can know." Rachel whispered.

"I understand." He replied. They kissed. As they were kissing, Jessie looked over his shoulder at Shelby, who was watching in the wings. He winked at her, and she nodded at him. The plan was set.

George was upset. After everything that had gone down with Finn's mom's funeral, Finn hadn't even called him since he got back to Canada. Finn was like a brother to George and George loved him a lot, but damn it Finn was bad at communication!

"Hey mom, you haven't happened to have heard from Finn, have you?" He asked his mom. The two of them were sitting in their house in Forest Hill, Toronto, and they were playing a game of chess against each other. It was a Saturday afternoon tradition for George and his mom: his dad had taught him how to play - before he walked out on them - and the winner of the game would get to pick where they ordered takeout from. It was always an intense affair, despite the fact that it was a friendly game between family. Mrs. Shelley shook her head.

"No, when was the last time you heard from him?" She asked.

"I haven't heard from him since I left. I've never gone this long without speaking to him before so I'm starting to get worried."

"Well have you called him?"

George nodded.

"Yeah, and texted him, whatsapped him, DMed him and Snapchat messaged him. He's not responding."

"Do you have any of his friends' numbers? Maybe try calling them?"

"That's a good idea." He replied. He had only one of Finn's friends' numbers: Santana. He took out his phone and called her. The phone rang a few times before Santana picked up.

"Hello?" Santana said, confused. She didn't recognise the number and she was 99% sure it was a prank or a marketing call.

"Hey, Santana?"

"Yeah, who's this."

"Um… this Finn's friend, George. I haven't heard from him in like a month, so I'm starting to worry. Is he okay?"

Suddenly, the phone beeped loudly and then turned off. Santana had hung up on him. George slowly moved the phone away from his ear. Something was wrong, and if Santana wasn't talking, it must be pretty bad.

As Santana lowered the phone, she broke down into sobs once again. She was finally starting to stop thinking about the tall brunette, and that call brought everything crashing back down like a tsunami wave. She knew it wasn't George's fault - he was just looking out for his friend - but in Santana's opinion, he was such a jerk!

"Mom, can I ask you for a huge favour?" George asked his mother after he put his phone away.

"You want to travel to Lima?" She asked. George nodded. The problem wasn't about the cost of the trip - George's dad was a multi-billionaire who paid them a crap-ton of alimony money every month. The problem was the inconvenience. But Mrs. Shelly knew how much Finn meant to her son and her. Finn was basically a part of their family, and she hadn't forgotten how Finn saved her son's life all those years ago.

"Yes, please. Can I?" George asked hopefully. He was already eyeing the storage room, where the suitcases were kept, and he was already thinking about what clothes to bring for the short vacation.

"Sure, son. I know that Finn's like a brother to you. Hell, he's like a son to me too. You can go to Lima for a couple of days to see if he's okay. You've gotta be back soon though."

George jumped up and kissed his mom's cheek.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He cried, and then ran out the room to pack his bag. Less than 15 minutes later, his bags were packed and his mom was driving him to Toronto Pearson Airport. There was a flight to Cincinnati in just under 2 hours, and George intended on being on it. He would have to hurry though. When they arrived, he jumped out of the car, kissed his mom on the cheek, and ran into the airport, dragging his bag behind him. Whilst he was in the car, he had texting Liam and Harry to tell them where he was going. They were also worried about Finn, but they knew how close George and Finn were so they refrained from going. If something really bad was happening to Finn, George was probably the only one who could talk him down. George flew through check-in, passport control and security and he made it to his boarding gate with 15 minutes to spare. He panted as he waited in the line for boarding the plane. He only relaxed once he was on the aircraft, and 3 hours later, he was walking towards Baggage Claim in Cincinnati airport.

It was now almost midnight, but Mr. Schue was still working, grading some Spanish papers that he didn't get to due to the numerous Glee rehearsals. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Mr. Schuester?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Jessie St. James. Can I talk to you about something…"