CHAPTER 1 - PROLOGUE
Finally! Finally, the day of Finn Hudson's honourable discharge from the Navy was here! He had joined the Navy at the mere age of 17 (graduating pretty young from high school) and had spent 5 long years fighting for his country among the ranks of the Navy SEALs - the most elite unit in the entire military, and possibly the strongest in the world. Finn had learned to fly planes, scuba dive, sail, shoot, fight, parachute among many other kills. However, it had been by far the toughest 5 years of his life. He was sent on dozens of missions that were right out of a horror movie, forced to become a ghost and not tell his family where he was for prolonged periods of time. Well, correction, he couldn't tell his mom where in the world he was. His mom was his only living member of his family as his dad had walked out on them when they were very young and he had no other siblings. His mom was not only his family but she was also his best friend, sad as that might sound. The two of them had been through so much together as it had just been the two of them for as long as Finn could remember.
Finn couldn't wait to finally start his life after the military. After all, he was only 23 and had his whole life ahead of him. He had planned to take a trip to Europe and just spend a month or so backpacking through the continent. He had saved up most of his salary from the military and as not only a veteran but a vet with the extra benefits of a Medal of Honor recipient, he had enough money to pay for a trip before he began working wherever he began working. Finn grew up in a small neighborhood in Brooklyn but he didn't know whether he'd stay in New York or even the U.S.A for that matter. As part of the SEAL Team 2, despite being based in Virginia, he had travelled all over the world so he got to experience the gorgeousness of the rest of the world, even if most of the time he went abroad to partake in missions.
As the bus finally pulled up to the Navy Base in Montauk, New York, the men clambered out, eager to see their family and friends again. They had all been through hell in their time deployed and families and friends were the only ones keeping the troops together. Finn walked off the bus and he scanned the crowd for Carole. He was a couple of inches taller than everyone else so he was able to easily search through the crowd. She wasn't there. Finn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had been on mission for almost 6 months - an undercover reconnaissance mission in Vietnam - so he hadn't spoken to her in that long. It was by far the toughest, longest and most dangerous mission he had ever been on. However, even though they hadn't spoken, Carole knew that he was getting discharged today as she would have gotten a notification on her phone and he knew that there was no way she would miss this day. Her baby boy was getting honorably discharged from the Navy! Maybe she was just stuck in traffic. It was New York after all.
Finn walked over to the corner of the building and he sat down on the ground, his massive duffel bag providing him a cushion against the wall. All around him, he heard the screams of delight as parents were reunited with children; children with their parents; siblings, spouses and friends were all ecstatic to have their soldier home. Finn watched them and sat impatiently, waiting for Carole to arrive. He heard footsteps walking towards him and he looked up to see his boss - a man named Lieutenant Jack Morrison - smiled down at him.
"Hey, Lieutenant." Finn said.
"It's Jack. You're no longer in my platoon so you don't have to call me that anymore." Jack remarked. Finn shook his head.
"Nah. Out of respect, and out of fear of getting my ass kicked, Imma stick with Lieutenant." Finn joked. Jack laughed.
"Haha. So, how does it feel to officially be out of here? You must be really happy!"
"Yeah, no. It's great." Finn replied. Jack raised an eyebrow skeptically and Finn noticed. "What?" Finn asked.
"You just said, 'yeah no'." He commented. Finn chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, I mean I'm happy that I'm no longer getting my ass shot at every day but on the other hand… I guess I'm feeling kind of lost. My whole life, ever since I could remember, I wanted to be a SEAL. SEALs were like superheroes to me and I dreamed about becoming one for years and years. It just feels kind of weird to have now completed that and have nothing on my to-do list anymore."
Jack took in what Finn had said and nodded.
"Finn, you know what made you such an amazing soldier to work with, and what earned you that medal of honor?"
"I don't know but I'm guessing it wasn't my enthusiasm to get out of bed every morning." Finn remarked, sarcastically. He had always despised the 4:30 am wake ups during his 5 years as a SEAL and he had earned many a punishment for not getting out of bed on time. Jack laughed and shook his head.
"No. What made you so great was how well you made plans on the fly, and how well you improvise under pressure. One of your dreams is over? Well then, you're gonna come out punching with 3 new ones. Your mom didn't come and pick you up? Well, you get your ass in a taxi and go surprise her!"
Finn smiled and nodded. He stood up.
"Hell yeah, I am. Thanks, Lieutenant." He said.
"Anytime." Lieutenant Morrison replied. Finn then walked out of the base and he collapsed in a taxi. One thing he was thankful for was that there was never a lack of taxis in NYC. He directed the cab towards his old childhood home in Brooklyn and half an hour later, he made it. He saw his car in the driveway and smiled. His car was his most prized possession, a matt-black Chevrolet Corvette that he had built from scratch during his vacation times from the Navy. However, inside the garage were some cars that Finn didn't recognise and the front yard looked extremely different too. Finn raised an eyebrow but didn't think too much of it. After all, it had been almost a year since he'd been home. He walked over to the door and rang the bell. He waited for a couple of moments before the door swung open and an old asian-american couple stared at him, confused. Finn's eyes widened.
"Um… hi? Can we help you?" They asked. Finn slowly nodded.
"Uh… yeah. This is… this is my house." Finn stated. Were these people squatters or something? And where the hell was Carole.
"Oh… you're the son." They murmured, realisation dawning on them. "Please, come in. We need to talk…"
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The next seconds went by extremely fast yet extremely slow. Finn only caught a few words. 2 months ago… Carole… leukemia… didn't catch it in time. Finn felt like he was suffocating to death. He was suddenly dragged back to the shitholes of Afghanistan, choking on the desert air, coughing up blood from a bullet wound in his arm. All of the pain he had felt over the past 5 years was nothing compared to the pain he felt having lost his mother. His mother had been the best part of his life and she was now just… gone. He didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. Apparently, she had contracted leukemia a long time ago but she caught it much too late. Around 6 months ago, after Finn had already left on mission, the doctor had quoted her with 4 months to live. She died around two years ago, unable to contact her son to say goodbye. Her funeral had been conducted by friends of theirs and as they had planned, all of her savings and properties were going to a veteran's charity. Finn was over 18 (he was 23) so at least he didn't have to worry about being sent to an orphanage. Finn blamed himself for Carole's death: he didn't pull the trigger but he might as well have. If he had been around more, he could have helped spot it sooner. Maybe she'd still be alive today. Finn's car had been left in the driveway of their old house and the couple gave Finn the keys to his vehicle.
Finn stumbled out of the house and into his car, still in shock of the bombshell that had just been laid on him. His mind soon went from astonishment to just pure misery. His mom was dead: he had nobody in this world. Nobody cared about him. He could die tomorrow and nobody would give a shit. At around midnight, Finn drove into Manhattan, homeless and alone, and he drove to a bodega on the Upper West Wide. He bought a 12 pack of beer and proceeded to sit down on the pavement of the neighborhood and chug all twelve of them.
"Hey!" A homeless lady behind him shouted. Finn turned around to face him. "Finish up and then beat it!"
"Excuse me?" Finn slurred, clearly intoxicated.
"This is my mart! You ain't hustling no coin at my mart!" She snapped.
"I'm not hustling. I'm not homeless! That's my car!" He spat, pointing to his car across the lot. He then took out a slice of pizza that he had bought from the bodega and started eating it. Suddenly, Finn heard an ear-shattering scream coming from the parking lot behind him. He slowly stumbled and turned around to see 8 20-something year old men grabbing a young, blonde woman, who was kicking and screaming furiously, trying to get away but to no avail.
"Ooh, what have we got here?" One of the men snickered. The woman started trembling in fear.
"Please. Please stop." She cried, tears streaming down her face. Finn took out his phone and attempted to call the cops but he was so hammered that he couldn't get past the lock screen.
"Bitch." One of the men growled.
"Asshole." The woman muttered back, load enough that they heard it. Finn heard it to and he gasped in surprise.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" One of the men shouted, punching her in the solar plexus. She groaned in pain and tried to run away.
"You crying? Hey, where are you going, pussy?!" One of the men spat, throwing the woman up against a matt-black corvette - Finn's car! He growled and stood up. Now, it was personal.
"Hey, watch the car, man!" Finn shouted, stumbling drunkenly towards them. They chuckled when they saw him.
"Who's this dude?" One of them remarked.
"Just leave the dork alone." Finn growled.
"What?" One of the men - a short, muscular asian man named Ky - exclaimed, before turning to his friends. "You see this guy? Eating his dinner at a bodega like a bum."
"Wait, I think I know this guy! He's the jerk-off who cleaned my dad's septic tank." Another guy, Johnny, remarked. Finn raised an eyebrow in confusion. What the hell was he talking about?"
"Well, that would explain why he smells like shit!" Kye exclaimed. Finn growled.
"Trust me, you guys are pissing off the wrong guy on the wrong day, all right?" He snapped, squaring up to one of the men.
"Oh really?" Kye remarked. "Get the hell out of here, loser."
With that, Kye shoved him. In his inebriated state, even that was enough to send Finn stumbling backwards, but it was also enough to send him into full-fighter mode. A flurry of punches, tornado of kicks and a hurricane of grapples rained down on the gang as Finn used is 5 years of fighting expertise to beat the crap out of the men. The terrified woman could only watch in awe, gratefulness and confusion as Finn slowly stood up afterwards.
"Holy Shit! How did you…"
She never finished her sentence as at that moment, Ky stood up and dived at Finn, taking Finn by surprise and grabbing him into a choke lock. Given his drunk state, this did even more damage on Finn than it normally would.
"What's the matter? Having trouble breathing?" Ky chuckled. Finn rolled his eyes and judo-flipped Ky over, causing him to go sprawling towards the ground.
"What's the matter? Is that all you got, ladies?!" Finn slurred. Ky spat blood from his mouth and lunged at Finn one last time. Ky had gotten sloppy at this point due to his anger and it was extremely easy for him to catch Ky in the air and pull him into a choke lock.
"What's the matter? Having trouble breathing?" Finn smirked. Suddenly, the sound of sirens rang through the air and Finn vaguely heard two cops running towards him.
"HEY! GET OFF HIM!" The cop shouted, yanking Finn off Ky and spraying his eyes with pepper spray. As Finn cried out in excruciating pain, the blond girl ran over to them. The last thing Finn heard was her screaming…
"Hey, hey, it's not his fault!" She screamed, and that's when Finn was conked on the head by the cops and knocked out.
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The next morning, at around 9 am, Finn was rudely awoken by a cop in the holding cell of an NYPD jail. Finn groaned as he clutched his throbbing head. Between his fierce hangover and the wallop he got by the cops the night before, it was not a good feeling.
"GET UP!" One of the cops shouted. Finn muttered curses under his breath as he slowly stood up.
"What do you want?" Finn snapped.
"You're out of here. Your bail of 2.5k has been paid." The cop grunted. Finn's eyes widened.
"Excuse me? Who the hell paid my bail?"
The cop shrugged.
"Guy by the name Samuel Evans. You know him?"
Finn shook his head.
"Nah, never heard of him before." Finn responded. The cop chuckled.
"Good samaritan then, I guess. Here's your wallet and car keys and phone. Stay out of trouble, Mr. Hudson."
"Thanks. See you soon."
"I hope not!" The cop called after him as Finn left the station. As soon as he walked into the sunlight, his eyes screamed in pain at the sudden intrusion of light. All of a sudden, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Finn turned around to see a blonde man with ocean-blue eyes smiling at him.
"Can I help you?" Finn asked.
"Hi. Finn Hudson, right?" He asked. Finn nodded.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"Sam Evans." He replied. Finn's eyes widened.
"Oh, you're the guy who paid my bail! Thanks, man. But why…"
"That girl you saved last night. That was my girlfriend, Quinn Fabray. She said you heroically fought off 8 guys, possibly saving her life and when she mentioned you were arrested, I wanted to pay your bail to thank you."
"You didn't have to do that, man. Please, let me pay you back." Finn stated. Sam shook his head adamantly.
"No. I wanted to." He responded. Finn smiled at him and nodded.
"Thank you so much, man. Truth be told, it's been a rough couple of days. Now, can I at least buy you a drink?"
Sam grinned.
"You got it."
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"Wait, so you were in the Navy?" Sam asked, incredulously as the two men sipped their beers.
"Yup. Just discharged less than 48 hours ago."
"What did you do?" Sam asked. Finn shrugged.
"Diver." He replied, simply. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Right. 'Diver.'" Sam laughed. Finn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Huh?"
"Oh come on, dude. No diver knows how to fight off 8 massive brutes. And your tattoo on your shoulder… the trident and eagle? That's the SEAL logo, is it not?"
Finn sighed.
"OK. Yeah. 5 year deployment in SEAL team 2. I just got out yesterday morning, only to find out that my mom died, I have nowhere to live, and then to top off an already horrendous day, I got arrested."
Sam looked down.
"Wow, dude I'm so sorry. But I think I can help you with one thing. Finn, do you believe in destiny?"
Finn shrugged.
"Not really. Why?"
"Well then, this will be a little anticlimactic but my roommate moved out to a place on the Upper East Side so I'm looking for a new roommate. Look, I know we just met but are you interested?"