CHAPTER 5

One night, a couple of days later, Finn really wanted to go to the bar. That's just what they did. Him, Sam and Quinn, Puck, Santana. They all used to hang out at the one karaoke bar called McLaren's. But then, one night, Finn, Sam and Quinn were walking down the street and both Quinn and Finn were on the phone.

"Why don't we go to McLaren's?" Finn suggested over his phone.

"Let's go to McLaren's." Quinn said into her phone.

"Are you guys talking to each other?" Sam asked. They weren't though. Finn was on the phone with Puck and Quinn was on the phone with Santana. Finn heard Puck disagreeing furiously over the phone.

"What's wrong with McLaren's?" Finn asked.

"McLaren's is bore-snore. Finn, tonight, we're going to go out. We're going to meet some ladies. It's going to be legendary. Phone five!"

Puck slapped his phone in delight but Finn didn't. Finn had no idea why he hung out with Puck.

"You didn't phone five, did you?" Puck snapped. "I know when you don't phone five, Finn. Come on! We always go to McLaren's."

"Yeah, 'cause McLaren's is fun." Finn replied.

"McLaren's is this much fun. What I'm offering is the chance to have… this much fun." Puck said, using hand gestures that Finn obviously couldn't see to convey his point.

"See, you say that. You say it's going to be this much fun, but most of the time it ends up being this much fun. This much fun is good. It's safe. It's guaranteed." Finn argued.

"This hand gesture thing doesn't really work on the phone." Puck commented.

"No, it doesn't." Finn agreed. Suddenly, a cab squealed to a halt right in front of them and Puck leaned out the window.

"Get in the cab!" Puck demanded. "Sam, you too."

"Wish I could. Q and I are just going to…"

"I understand. Finn, get in the cab." Puck said.

"Why can Sam say no?" Finn whined.

"Uh, because he's getting laid." Puck replied.

"Constantly." Sam smirked.

"Finn, Finn, Finn… look at me. Look at me. You keep going to the same bar. You're in a rut! And I am a rut-buster. I'm gonna bust your rut."

"It's not a rut, okay? It's a routine, and I like it." Finn replied. Puck sighed.

"Finn, what's the first syllable in rut-tine?"

Finn glared at him and groaned before reluctantly clambering into the cab. The cab zoomed away moments later.

"All right, so what's this legendary plan?" Finn asked.

"First we've got to pick someone up at the airport." Puck replied. Finn sighed.

"Okay, I'm out of here." He said and he started to grab the door handle.

"ESTABAN, DOORS!" Puck shouted to the cab drivers. At that moment, the cab doors locked and Finn scowled at him.

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Finn and Puck walked into the arrivals section of JFK moments later and they walked into the baggage claim area. For some reason, Puck was holding two suitcases in his hands.

"Okay, we've just got to do this one thing and the rest of the night is ours." Puck stated. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you have those suitcases, and who are we picking up?" Finn asked. Puck looked around the airport and pointed at various attractive women.

"I don't know. Maybe her. Or her."

Realisation dawned on Finn a moment later.

"Wait, so when you said you were going to pick someone up at the airport, you meant you were going to pick someone up at the airport?"

Puck winked at him and clicked his teeth.

"Scenario: a couple of girls fly into town looking at a fun weekend in NYC when they meet two handsome international businessmen just back from a lucrative trip to Japan."

Finn laughed at how outrageous this sounded but Puck was not done. Not even close.

"Sample dialogue…" Puck suggested. "You have a wheelie bag? I have a wheelie bag!"

"You've gotta be kidding me." Finn chuckled in disbelief.

"False. And sidebar… tuck in your shirt. You look sketchy." Puck snapped. Finn started laughing hysterically.

"I'm sketchy?!" He exclaimed.

"Trust me, Finn, it's going to be legendary!" Puck exclaimed. Finn shook his head furiously.

"Don't say legendary, okay? You're too liberal with the word legendary."

"Finn, Finn, Finn, look at me. Look at me. This is happening! Now you can either put the bags on the carousel now, or you can listen to me give you a really long speech convincing you to put the bags on the carousel. Your move." Puck said. Finn sighed and didn't move. Puck shrugged. "Fine. Finn, since the dawn of time, mankind has struggled…"

Finn groaned and walked over to the carousel, placing the bags on it.

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That night, Sam had a ton of studying to do so Quinn went out to the bar with Santana, who was new to New York and looking for a friend.

"I'm so glad we finally get to hang out, just the two of us." Quinn said.

"Yeah." Santana smiled.

"You sure you're okay giving up your Friday night to hang out with an old, almost married lady?" Quinn asked.

"Oh, please. I'm so sick of the meat market scene. Guys are like the subway. You miss one, another comes along in five minutes." Santana stated.

"Unless it's the end of the night and then you just get on anything." Quinn joked. Santana laughed and the bartender placed two martinis in front of them.

"Compliments of that guy." He said, pointing to a guy across the bar.

"Really? That's so sweet!" Quinn exclaimed. Carl, the bartender, shook his head.

"Oh, no. For you it's 6 dollars."

Quinn blushed and took out her purse.

"Oh, yes, that's one drawback to being engaged. I'm sure that's why he didn't…"

Suddenly, the guy walked over to them and stood in between their two bar stools, facing Santana and his back to Quinn…

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"So, uh… did you just get in from Detroit? Japan!" Finn said to a pretty girl who was waiting for her bags. She didn't respond. Her bag came around on the conveyor belt and she took it and walked away. Puck then walked over to Finn.

"Okay, carousel 4 is tapped out." Puck informed him. "Ready? Because I'm about to drop some knowledge. Cute girls are not from Buffalo."

Puck suddenly spotted two hot girls standing behind Finn.

"Time-out. Right behind you." Puck said. Finn turned around and saw the girls. "You ready to rock this, Finner?" He asked. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, but I think we need to refine our backstory first. How did we…?

Finn didn't finish his sentence…

"Finn, you klutzy great guy you!" Puck exclaimed and he shoved Finn into the girls' suitcase trolley, causing him to fall over.

"Hey, I'm Puck." He said to the girls.

"My God, are you okay?" One of the girls asked Finn. He nodded and stood up.

"I am so sorry." He said, brushing the dust from his jacket sleeves.

"It's fine. No, you were a little shaky on your landing though. I'd give you a 9.2." One of the girls joked. Finn chuckled.

"Hi. I'm Finn." He said, shaking the girl's hand.

"Laura." She replied. "Look, I'm really sorry that we have to hit and run but we've got a plane to catch."

"Oh, where are you headed?" Finn asked.

"Philadelphia." She replied. That's when Puck chimed in.

"Philly? That's where we're headed!" Puck exclaimed.

"You are? Well, then we'll see you on the plane." She replied and the two girls walked away. Once they were gone, Puck turned to Finn,

"Follow them. Tickets are on me!" He exclaimed before running towards the escalator that led to the Departures floor of the airport.

"No! Puck! Don't you get on that escalator!" Finn shouted. "And don't you dare get on that subsequent escalator!"

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Back in the airport, Sam was working on a paper for class and he was getting annoyed. On one hand, he was making a responsible choice for his future but the drawback was that he was studying on a Friday night. Being a lawyer had better be awesome, he thought to himself. Suddenly, his phone rang and he answered it.

"What's up, Finn?"

"Hey, guess where I am. I'm on a… ready? Plane to… ready? Philadelphia!"

"That is awesome!" Sam exclaimed. On the plane, Puck turned to Finn.

"Hey, is that Sam?" Puck asked, snatching the phone from him. "Sam, stop whatever you're doing, get in that hoopty-ass Fiero of yours and come meet us in Philly! It's gonna be legendary!"

"Man, I wish I could, guys."

"Dude, get your ass over here. Philly!" Puck exclaimed and then hung up the phone. He then turned to Finn. "Admit it: you're having fun. 35000 feet of fun!"

Finn sighed.

"Well, I didn't think I'd be flying to Philadelphia when I woke up this morning, I'll give you that."

"Attaboy!" Puck exclaimed. "Now, let's go talk to those girls."

"Whoa, whoa, the seat belt sign is on." Finn said. Puck sighed and glared at him.

"Finn, you've been living your whole life in a seat belt. It's time to unclick."

With that, Puck made a big deal out of unclicking his seat belt but just as he stood up, he was shoved back down by a flight attendant.

"Sir, the seat belt light is on." She said. Puck nodded and sat back down.

"Yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry." He replied. Finn laughed hysterically.

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Back in the bar, Quinn and Santana were chatting but they weren't getting too far as every couple of minutes, a guy would come over and hit on Santana. Not Quinn, just Santana.

"Well, I grew up in Park Slope." Quinn said.

"Oh, I love Park Slope! When did you move to Manhattan?" Santna asked. Suddenly, yet another guy walked over to them and turned to Santana.

"You're from Park Slope?" He asked.

"No, she is." Santana replied, pointing at Quinn.

"So, where are you from? Heaven?" He asked Santana. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm a ghost. I died 15 years ago, like that pickup line." She remarked.

"Hey-oh!" Quinn laughed and the guy walked away.

"God, I'm so sorry." Santana apologised to Quinn.

"Oh, believe me, I've been there. I have this line that I use when guys come… check it out." She said as another guy walked over. However, she couldn't speak to him as he had his back turned to her.

"You take this one." Quinn mumbled. "I'll save it for the next one."

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On the plane, Finn and Puck were standing and talking to the two girls they had met in the airport.

"So, what brings you guys to Philly?" Finn asked.

"We're visiting our boyfriends." Laura, one of the girls, replied.

"I think hers is going to propose this weekend." The other added. "Isn't that great?"

Finn's face broke out into a huge grin and he turned to Puck.

"So great." Finn smirked.

So there they were: stuck on an airplane to Philadelphia with two very un-single girls, all thanks to Puck. The girls handed Finn and Puck two pictures of their boyfriends.

"Aren't they cute? They're both linebackers for the Eagles." Laura said. Finn's grin got even wider.

"Both? Both of their boyfriends are linebackers!" Finn laughed.

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"You're going to Philly? Why?" Quinn asked. Sam had just called her and told her that he was going to Philly.

"Um… I didn't ask." Sam replied from his car. Quinn chuckled faintly.

"Well, it sounds like you're having a lot more fun than I am. I'm just talking to guys' backs while they hit on Santana."

"Yeah, I bet she gets that a lot." Sam stated.

"Don't you bet I get that a lot?" Quinn pouted.

"Not with a ring on your finger. I mean, you know, guys see the ring and it's like Ka-Boom, Sam parking only!"

Quinn smiled widely in realisation.

"Oh, of course. That's it, the ring! I guess I'm not used to it yet."

"Oh, it's totally the ring. If you took that ring off your finger, you'd have a ton of guys crowding your junk."

"I'm not gonna take off my ring! Wouldn't you be jealous of guys swarming all over my beeswax?" Quinn asked. Sam laughed.

"Oh, yeah, you know me, I'm the jealous type! Any goon so much as looks at you, I'll sock him in the kisser!" Sam joked. "No, seriously, you girls have a good time tonight. Bye."

"Love you." Quinn replied and hung up the phone. She looked at her ring for several moments before closing her eyes and slipping the ring off her finger and into her bag…