CHAPTER 2 - 2 YEARS LATER
Two years later and Finn had turned his life around completely. He was 25 and he had decided on a whole new plan for the future. He had always absolutely loved singing and had always been excellent at not only singing but also writing his own song so he had decided to try and become a professional singer. After all, he was in the best city in the world - NYC - which was also the art and culture hub of the world. However, being an aspiring singer, singing in deserted coffeehouses and pubs didn't earn much money so to earn a paycheck, he worked as a part-time boxing/MMA instructor. He lived in a two bedroom on the Upper West Wide with his best friend, Sam, hanging out in a gang with his other best friends Quinn and Puck. Quinn, of course, was the girl he saved so he knew her from the beginning but Puck was the latest addition to their little group, joining them around a year ago. Life was good, that was until Sam went and screwed the whole thing up…
"Will you marry me?" Sam asked. Finn grinned.
"Yes! Perfect! And then you're engaged! You pop the champagne! You drink a toast! You have sex on the kitchen floor! Please don't have sex on your kitchen floor."
"Got it." Sam smiled, pocketing his engagement ring. "Thanks for helping me plan this out, Finn."
"Dude, are you kidding? It's you and Quinn! My God. You're getting engaged tonight."
"Yeah." Sam murmured. "What are you doin' tonight?"
What was Finn doing? Here, Sam was taking the biggest step of his life. And Finn? He was calling up Noah Puckerman…
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Hey, so you know how I've always had a thing for half-Asian girls?!" Puck exclaimed as he picked up the phone. Finn sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well, now I've got a new favourite - Lebanese girls. Lebanese girls are the new half-Asians."
"Hey, you want to do something tonight?" Finn reluctantly asked.
"Okay, meet me at the bar in 15 minutes. And suit up!"
15 minutes later, Finn walked into the bar where they would always hang out. It was a karaoke bar that was right below their apartment and they went to the bar almost every night. Puck sighed as Finn walked into the bar and came over to him.
"Where's your suit?! Just once, when I say suit up, I wish you'd put on a suit!" Puck snapped. Puck was obsessed with suits, possibly more than he loved anyone in the world.
"I did that one time." Finn remarked, referring to a time almost a year ago.
"It was a blazer!" Puck exclaimed. Finn sighed.
"You know, for the past two years, it's been Sam and Quinn and me. Now, it's gonna be Sam and Quinn… and me. They'll get married, start a family. Before long, I'm that weird, middle-aged bachelor their kids call Uncle Finn."
Puck suddenly slapped Finn across the upside of the head.
"I see what this is about. Have you forgotten what I said to you the night we met? I am going to teach you how to live. Lesson 1… get a suit. Suits are cool. Exhibit 'A'." He stated, pointing to himself. Finn rolled his eyes. "And lesson 2… don't even think about getting married till you're 30."
Finn nodded.
"30. Right. You're right. I guess it's just, your best friend gets engaged, you start thinking about that stuff."
"I thought I was your best friend. Finn, say I'm your best friend." Puck demanded.
"You're my best friend, Puck." Finn mumbled, sighing and rolling his eyes.
"Good! Then as your best friend, I suggest we play a little game I like to call 'Have you met Finn?'"
"Wait. No, no, no. We're not playing 'Have you met Finn?'" Finn snapped. Puck then turned to the woman standing behind him and he tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hi, have you met Finn?" Puck asked her before walking swiftly away. Finn glared at his disappearing friend before turning to the girl and shaking her hand.
"I'm Finn." He smiled.
"Yasmine." She replied.
"That's a very pretty name." Finn commented. She beamed at him.
"Thanks. It's Lebanese." She responded. Finn very nearly laughed out loud…
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
At that moment, Quinn walked into Finn and Sam's apartment. Quinn was a kindergarten teacher in the local public school and she had just finished school that day.
"Hey!" Sam exclaimed from his place in the kitchen. "How was your day?"
Quinn groaned.
"I'm exhausted." She murmured. "It was finger-painting day at school, and a 5 year-old boy got to second base with me." She said as she took off her jacket, revealing a purple handprint on her shirt, on her right breast. "Wow! You're cooking?!" She exclaimed as she saw him.
"Yes, I am." He replied. Quinn walked over to him and kissed him quickly.
"Are you sure that's a good idea after last time? You looked really creepy without eyebrows!"
"I can handle this." Sam laughed. "I think you'll find I'm full of surprises tonight."
"So, there's more surprises? Like what?"
Sam was in his second year of law school so he was pretty good at thinking on his feet.
"BOOGEDY BOO!" He shouted suddenly. "And that's all of them. I'm gonna go… cook."
Sam walked back to the kitchen and took out a bottle of champagne and handed it to Quinn. Her face lit up.
"Oh, honey! Champagne!" She exclaimed, handing him the bottle to open.
"Yeah…" Sam said, nervously, handing Quinn the bottle back. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"No! You are too old to be scared to open a bottle of champagne!" She exclaimed.
"I'm not scared." He murmured.
"Then open it." She challenged him.
"Fine." He sighed. After a couple of moments, he handed the bottle back to her. "Please open it." He begged.
"Oh my Gosh! You are unbelievable, Sam!" Quinn shouted. As she turned around to grab the bottle opener, Sam quickly grabbed his ring from his back pocket. She turned back around, she saw her boyfriend down on one knee, a diamond ring in his hands.
"Will you marry me?" Sam asked. Quinn's face lit up.
"OF COURSE, YOU IDIOT!"
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Hey, do you want to go out sometime?" Finn asked Yasmine. Her face dropped.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Carl's my boyfriend." She said, pointing at the bartender, who waved at Finn cheerfully. Finn blushed and waved back.
"'Sup Carl!"
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Sam and Quinn slowly sat up from the kitchen floor, their clothes all misbuttoned and their hair all ruffled. No guesses as to what they had been doing. They both sighed and chuckled light-heartedly.
"I promised Finn we wouldn't do that." Sam murmured.
"Did you know there's a Pop Tart under your fridge?" Quinn remarked.
"No, but dibs." Sam replied. "Now, where's that champagne." He said, picking up the bottle. "I wanna drink a toast with my fiance." He exclaimed, starting to open the bottle. "I don't know why I was scared of this. It's pretty easy, right?"
Suddenly, the cork flew off the champagne bottle and Quinn shrieked in pain…
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Why am I freaking out all of a sudden? This is crazy. I'm not ready to settle down." Finn remarked.
"How does Carl land a Lebanese girl?" Puck asked, not listening to Finn at all. "The man doesn't even own a suit!"
Finn rolled his eyes and continued his rant.
"The plan has always been don't even think about it until you're thirty. Plus, Sam's found the love of his life. Even if I was ready, which I'm not… but if I was, it's like, OK, I'm ready. Where is she?"
Suddenly, Finn turned around and saw a gorgeous Latina girl standing by the karaoke. It was like something from an old movie, where the sailor sees the girl from across the crowded dance floor, turns to his buddy and says, see that girl? I'm gonna marry her someday.
"Hey, Puck. See that girl…" Finn said, turning to Puck.
"Oh, yeah. You just know she likes it dirty." Puck remarked in reply. "Go say hi. I'll wingman you."
Finn took a deep breath and the two of them walked towards the Latina girl. She was just approaching the stage at the front of the bar and they arrived at the same time.
"Oh, ladies first." He said, handing her the karaoke sign-up sheet.
"Yeah, you don't wanna follow us. We're what's known as Karaoke sharks." Puck remarked. Finn rolled his eyes but the girl laughed nervously.
"Thanks for the warning. I've never done this before." She said.
"Well, you know. That's the beauty of karaoke. If you're good, drunk audiences love you. And if you're bad, they really love you." Finn joked. She giggled.
"I just hope I'm not so bad I sober the place up." She said.
"Well, if you get nervous, just look over at our boot. We support everybody." Finn replied, comfortingly.
"But you're still going down." Puck added, signing up his and Finn's names on the sheet.
"Good luck." Finn said as him and Puck walked away.
"Thanks." She replied. She then picked up the mic and walked on stage. She turned to the audience.
"Hi. Bear with me. I've never done this before." She said. "Are the words going to be on screen?"
"Yeesh, poor thing. She seems so nervous." Finn remarked.
"Yeah, it's gonna be rough." Puck laughed. "Damn it, I miss jukeboxes!"
"Look, Puck, no matter how bad it is, just be nice." Finn said. The two guys then turned their attention to the girl, who had just singing. She sang Back to Black by Amy Whinehouse.
He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
Finn coughed and choked his beer. This girl was an incredible singer!
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to...
I go back to us
I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside
"Yeah, we're not following that." Finn laughed. Puck nodded and walked to the front of the room, taking his and Finn's name off the sign-up sheet.
"No, we are not!" Puck exclaimed in reply.
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to...
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to...
Black, black, black, black, black, black, black
I go back to...
I go back to...
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to...
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Sam and Quinn got into a cab, Quinn holding an ice pack to her eye.
"I'm so sorry, babe! Um… please, sir. Take us to the hospital." Sam asked the driver. His eyes widened.
"Woah, woah, woah. Did you hit her?" He snapped. Quinn and Sam looked at each other and laughed.
"Hit me. Please!" Quinn exclaimed. "This guy can barely even spank me in bed for fun. He's all like 'Oh, honey. Did that hurt?' and I'm like 'Come on! Let me have it, you pansy!'"
Quinn then realised that she was saying this to a taxi driver she had literally just met.
"Wow, a complete stranger." She murmured.
"No, no, no, no! It's okay. Go on. So, these, uh, spankings… they in pajamas or au naturel?" The driver asked creepily.
With that, Sam and Quinn drove speedily to the hospital while Finn was chatting up the amazing girl he had just met in the bar...