CHAPTER 31
The next day, Finn avoided speaking to anyone in the New Direction. He woke up at the crack of dawn and spent three hours throwing punches at the bag in the gym. He pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion, trying to forget about what had happened the day before. After his workout, he went back up to his room, showered, and went down to the breakfast buffet. At this point, it was 8:30 am and the New Directions were only just starting to get up. Santana groaned as she got up off the floor. There wasn't enough space in the room for the 7 of them on the two beds (Kurt stayed with the girls), so Brittany, Santana and Mercedes slept on the floor. But the pain in her back with nothing compared the burning hole inside.
"Damn it. We need a bigger room!" Mercedes complained, stretching her legs. Santana and Brittany nodded.
"Yeah, and it's not like the 7th floor with the suites is full. There are quite a few empty rooms."
"When have you been to the 7th floor?" Puck asked from the doorway. Santana sighed.
"Yesterday. Me and Finn were having a long overdue fight, and we went up to his room for it. He has 2 fucking huge rooms in his suite. He could have volunteered to take in the guys, and then the girls could spread out over these rooms!"
"Why would he do that? He doesn't owe us anything." Mike remarked, reasonably.
"Because that's what you do for people." Santana grumbled. Mike laughed.
"Trust me Santana, if you and Finn weren't throwing punches, he would definitely let us stay in his room. So you can't really complain." Mike pointed out and everyone nodded. Santana curled her hand into a first, ready to punch the asian kid, when she felt Brittany's hand gently slip into her's. She looked at the blonde, who was shaking her head. Instead, Santana stormed out of the room in tears, Brittany close behind her.
"Seriously, Mike?" Brittany glared at him as she followed her girlfriend out of the room.
A couple of hours later, the New Directions were having some fun on the beach. The guys were getting destroyed by the girls in a game of beach volleyball. Without Finn, the guys' team had no height, and Santana, Quinn and Brittany - as cheerleaders - had much higher jumps than the guys. Finn was at the bar - he wasn't working, so was already on his third drink. It helped take the edge off and numb the immense pain he was feeling. Suddenly, someone walked up and sat next to him. Finn turned to see Mr. Schue smiling sympathetically at him.
"Hey, Mr. Schue." Finn said, nodding at the man and then going back to his drink.
"Hey, Finn. How are you doing?" He asked. Finn looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Um… why are you looking at me like I have cancer?"
"I'm not! I… um… I… Ok, fine. I heard about your little spat with Santana." He admitted. Finn raised an eyebrow.
"She told you about it?" Finn asked. He was surprised. He didn't think Santana would talk to anyone about it, least of all to Mr. Schue.
"No… I heard the two of you fighting on your room's terrace. I was on my room's balcony, 4 floors lower."
Finn blushed.
"Yeah, so you know what I've been through, and why I'm not gonna take crap from her."
Mr. Schue nodded.
"Yes, I do, and I'm really sorry about everything that you've been through. No child should have to go through what you went through. But just know, if you ever want to come back to New Directions, the door's always open. We all miss you, Finn, and god knows we need you. After you left, the New Directions just crumbled. There was absolutely zero morale, and then when we finally got a new male lead, Jessie St. James…"
"Wait, the Vocal Adrenaline guy?" Finn cut in, confused. Mr. Schue nodded.
"Yeah, he started dating Rachel and then joined New Directions. A couple of days before Nationals, he quit and dumped Rachel. It ruined our chances at Nationals. We had no male lead, and our female lead wasn't firing on all cylinders. We got creamed. And we needed a leader. Whether you like it or not, you were our leader, and our peacekeeper."
Finn chuckled.
"Thanks, Mr. Schue. But I don't think I'm going to come back. There's only one reason I'd consider coming back, but it would be a miracle."
Suddenly, his phone rang and Finn looked at it and laughed.
"Ha, looks like the miracle is calling me. Please give me a second." He said, and picked up the phone.
"Hey George, what's up?" He said.
"FINN! FINN! FINN! FINN! Come back to Lima!" George shouted into the phone. Finn sighed.
"Not you too! Please, just don't." Finn said, tiredly.
"No! You don't understand! Liam, Harry and I are moving to Lima. Our families are being transferred there for work. You can come live with my mom and I!"
Finn almost dropped his phone.
"Are you playing with me?" He asked, assuming that George was joking around.
"No! I swear I'm not. If I am, you have my permission to hit me 3 times between the legs with a baseball bat."
Finn raised an eyebrow. George really wasn't kidding around.
"Wait, so you're really not kidding?" Finn remarked.
"OF COURSE NOT! So, come on, Finn! Come with us! You can rejoin the New Directions. I know you miss them. And we'll also finally have me, you, Liam and Harry all in the same city again!"
Finn laughed.
"Dude, are you sure?" Finn said, still unsure. "Like I don't want to be an imposition or anything."
"Nah, that's BS. Of course you're not an imposition. We'd love for you to come. Isn't that right, mom?" He asked his mom, who was sitting next to him as he called Finn.
"Hey Finn!" She called. Finn laughed.
"Hey, Mrs. S. How's it going?"
"Pretty good. And we'd love to have you. We all miss you!"
"Are you sure?" Finn asked again, still slightly unsure.
"Yes, we are! Now stop stalling and tell us! Are you coming or not!"
"I mean if you're sure…" Finn said.
"Is that a yes?" George shouted, excitedly. Finn nodded.
"Thank you so much. I don't even know what to say." Finn murmured. "Well, I should probably go quit my job now."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Would you like us to book you a flight? There's one tomorrow if that works." Mrs. Shelly asked. Finn shook his head.
"It's fine. If you guys are going to put me up for the next year, the least I can do is pay for my own flight. I have quite a bit of money saved from my job, because I didn't have to pay for food or accommodation. I'll try and find a flight in the next few days."
"OK, we'll see you soon!"
"Bye guys, thank you so much again!" He said, and hung up the phone. His face broke out into a huge smile. He was going back to Lima! And George, Harry and Liam were coming too! He walked back to Mr. Schue, who was still at the bar.
"You look happy." Mr. Schue commented. Finn nodded.
"I am, because I'm leaving Hawaii. I'm coming back to Lima for senior year."
Mr. Schue's mouth dropped.
"You… you're what?" He asked, shocked. Finn smiled.
"I'm coming back. My 3 closest friends are being transferred to Lima for senior year because of their parents' jobs, and one of them offered to let me stay with them for the year."
Mr. Schue raised an eyebrow.
"You do realise that if accommodation was the only reason you hesitated in coming back, I feel like any of the guys would've been willing to put you up."
Finn sighed and shrugged.
"Look, don't get me wrong, I love the New Directions, but there's not one person in that group that I would even consider asking. The person I'm staying with is like a brother to me. We've been through a lot together - I would put my life on the line without even blinking to save his. And I did. We were walking in Toronto one day when a group of guys with weapons tried to jump us. I got lightly stabbed while I was fighting them off. And the same is true the opposite way around. He literally flew into Lima during Christmas break after he heard about what happened with Quinn and the baby. And when my mom died, he was there for me as soon as he heard. He even stayed for a week or so after the funeral. I would follow this guy through the gates of hell, and I know that he would do the same for me."
"Well, I look forward to meeting this kid. He sounds like a great guy. Is he a good singer? We need male voices for the Glee club if we want to take Nationals."
"Yeah, he is. He sang at my mom's funeral. And I think you've met him actually. His name's George. Brown hair. Kind of scruffy looking."
Mr. Schue nodded and smiled.
"Oh yeah! He came looking for you in Lima 3 months ago when you went AWOL. He seems like a really nice guy. And I remember your performance with him and the two other guys. I don't mean to be insensitive as I know it was your mom's funeral, but that was an incredible performance. All four of your voices blended together beautifully."
"Yeah, actually, the two other guys are also transferring to Lima. Their names are Liam and Harry."
Mr. Schue's eyes widened.
"Well do you think that the three of them would consider joining New Direction?"
"They will. And even if they want to, I'm sure I can annoy them into joining. Anyways, I gotta go quit my job now. I'm flying to Lima sometime in the next few days."
He nodded.
"Well, see you soon, I guess." Mr. Schue said, and Finn nodded and walked away. Mr. Schue smiled to himself. They had Nationals in the bag, especially with four more strong male vocalists. He practically ran to the resort lobby, where the New Directions were hanging out.
"Guys, guys, guys!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together excitedly. Everyone turned towards him.
"What's up, Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked, sipping her soda.
"Finn's coming back next year!" He shouted. Everyone jumped up.
"You serious?" Puck shouted, and Mr. Schue nodded. "YES! We'll have a good football team again!"
"Screw the football team, we'll have a good Glee club again!" Quinn cried.
"Wait, where's he staying?" Mike asked. "Does he need to stay with one of us?"
Mr. Schue shook his head.
"No, apparently, his three closest friends are transferring to Lima, so he's staying with one of them. Do you guys remember the three guys who sang with Finn at his mom's funeral?"
Everyone nodded.
"They were really good singers." Rachel remarked.
"Yeah, they should join New Directions!" Tina said.
"Well, Finn said he'll convince them to join. Think about it guys, we'll have a 15 person show choir, with equal talent in the male category and the female one. Vocal Adrenaline won't know what hit them!"
Artie scoffed.
"You kidding? With Finn and those three guys, the dudes' vocals will blow the ladies' vocals right out of the water!"
Rachel laughed.
"You've got to be kidding me?" She said, and started to babble on about how the females were better than the males. Santana tuned her out. Her breath and heart rate started to increase. Finn was coming back. They weren't even on speaking terms, but she would have to deal with seeing him every day. Deep down, she felt horrible about everything, but she knew that Finn wouldn't accept an apology, so she forced herself to believe that she was right. She didn't know what was going to happen during the next year; she just knew that it was going to be hell…
Meanwhile, Finn knocked on the door of his boss - Mr. Streizburg's - office.
"Come on in!" He heard the man shout through the closed door, and Finn took a deep breath and walked in.
It was the second time he had been in the boss's office - the first was to sign the four month contract. It was a pretty basic room. It was lit by natural light and it contained a sofa in the back of the room, and two chairs with a desk in between them in the center of the room. Mr. Streizburg looked up and smiled at him when he walked in.
"Aah! Mr. Hudson. I've been expecting you. You've been a great employee for the hotel, and we would like to offer you a two year deal. Let's get down to details, shall we?"
Finn's four month contract with the resort had just expired the day before, and Finn was due to sign a new one in the coming days, which is why he didn't have to give a 2 weeks notice for quitting.
"Actually, Mr. Streizburg, I don't think I'll be signing another contract."
Mr. Streizburg's head shot up, and he looked at Finn, surprised.
"You… you're not?"
"No, I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I love working here. But I want to go back to high school. I want a life outside the resort. I want a proper career, in a big city, like New York, or L.A. And I just don't think I could get that performing in the resort for 6 hours a day."
"I understand. And I know that, whatever you do with your life, you're going to a great job. You've been a model employee - you're talented, you work hard, you never complain."
"Thank you, sir. For everything. You saved me from homelessness for the past 4 months. I'll always treasure this place, and I'll recommend the resort to everyone I know! I'll be packed up as soon as possible, and I'll be on my way."
Mr. Strezburg chuckled.
"Thanks, son. And good luck in the future."
Finn nodded and walked out of the room. His quitting went better than he thought it would. And now, he had only one destination… Lima, Ohio.
Please Review. Next chapter should be out today or tomorrow.