CHAPTER 17

"Well, I guess he's not coming," Rachel said, dejectedly. It was 9:30 am on Monday, half an hour after Glee had started, and Finn hadn't shown up. They were all losing hope, Bella especially. She really thought that he might come back after the conversation they had.

'Guess I was wrong,' Bella thought to herself.

"Man, that's so fucking annoying! I really thought Huddy would come back!" Puck exclaimed.

"Maybe he realised that he stands a better chance winning Nationals with the Warblers, than the New Directions?" Rachel suggested.

"Or maybe he just didn't want to be around you." Sam shot back.

"Or maybe he had a flat and had to change a tire in the middle of the street?" Someone suggested from the entrance way. The Glee club all turned to see Finn standing there, amused. He walked into the room.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

Everyone cheered and hugged him as he walked in.

"HUDSON'S BACK!" Puck shouted. Everyone laughed. Finn took his seat in the corner of the room.

"Not so fast, Finn. You still have to audition." Mr. Schue said. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? I've literally been in this group for 2 years. You guys heard me sing last Friday!" Finn argued.

"Nope. We gotta hear something!" Artie called out. Finn sighed and stood up. Everyone whooped and whistled as Finn took out his guitar from its case. He loved that guitar - it was the one his dad had gotten it.

"Oh god! The guitar's back!" Mike laughed and everyone cracked up laughing. Bella looked at them, confused.

"Huh? What about that guitar? She asked. Everyone grinned.

"Basically, that guitar is like Finn's baby. He literally keeps a fingerprint scanner on his case, so only he can open it." Puck said.

"Yeah, I swear, when we were dating, Finn loved that guitar more than me!" Quinn exclaimed. Everyone laughed.

"Hey! Back off, guys! It's the only thing I have left from my dad. Of course I'm gonna be protective of it. And anyways, do you want me to sing or not?"

"JUST SING ALREADY!" Mercedes shouted. Finn rolled his eyes and started strumming his guitar.

I said forgive us for what we have done

'cause we're young, we're young, we're young

I said forgive us for where we come done

'cause we're young, yeh

Mr. Schue smiled to himself as he watched the singing boy. They really did stand a chance at Nationals now that they had Finn back. Finn was the mesmerising male lead that they were clearly lacking.

I've made a lot of mistakes in my past

But I refuse to live there, nah

I saw a lot of hearts break in the past

But I refuse to go there, agh

It hurts too much, I'm looking for a crutch

I'm looking for just any girl, just for a touch

I let my angst out, i let myself go

And when I let myself down I just swag it out

Uh, uh, baby girl I,d like to dance

Uh! But I'm just looking for a brief romance

What's wrong with that? I´m young, forgive me

I live fast, die a legend, Whitney

Finn loved to invent his own rap on the spot. He had composed that short rap verse the day he started learning the song. It was one of his favourite songs, so he practised it often.

Oh, oh we're young, oh

Forgive us for what we have done

We're young, we're young, we're young

I said forgive us for what we have done

'cause we're young, we're young, we're young

Oh we're young, we're young, we're young

We're young, we're young, we're young

At the end of the song, everyone mobbed Finn. They were all cheering at the top of their lungs. They finally had Finn back, and were more than ready to beat the Warblers. When Finn left, their vocals had not only dropped by an extreme amount; their morale took a large hit too. But morale was high again, and it was all thanks to the 6'4 brunette at the front of the room.

"Wow, Finn. That was… wow…" Mr. Schue was speechless. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"That bad, huh?" Finn laughed. Mr. Schue shook his head.

"NO! It was incredible. I'm just… I'm lost for words. You, sir, never disappoint!" Finn smiled at his mentor as Mr. Schue showered him with praise.

"Thanks." Finn said, and took his seat. Everyone patted Finn on the back, and high fived him. Mr. Schue walked to the front of the room.

"OK, guys. Are you ready for your first assignment?" Mr. Schue asked. Everyone nodded. Mr. Schue walked over to the board and wrote down a single world.

DRAMA

"Drama?" Artie asked, reading the word on the board.

"Seriously, Mr. Shue? Drama? I left New Directions because of the drama!" Finn pointed out. Mr. Schue nodded.

"I know that. That's exactly my point. We've lost people because of the drama, and I don't want it to happen again this year. So your assignment is to find a song about overcoming challenges and not letting drama affect you."

"So are you telling me that you want No More Drama? Finn asked, emphasising the last few words. Mr. Schue smiled.

"Why do I feel like you already have a song in mind?" He asked. "Anyways, you guys are performing next rehearsal. Good luck."

Everyone stood up and started to file out of the room. Finn was about to stand up when someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around. It was Bella.

"Hey, Finn. I was just wondering if you could help me with my Glee assignment. I honestly have no idea what to do. This is like my first solo assignment in Glee." She asked, hopefully. Finn smiled.

"Sure, just tell me where and when." He replied.

"How about my place this afternoon?" She suggested. Finn nodded.

"You got it. Just text me the address and I'll be there."

A few hours later

"Hey guys," Bella said to her mom and dad as she walked into the kitchen. They looked up at her.

"What's up, honey?" Her mom asked.

"I've got someone coming over soon to help me work on my Glee assignment. Could I ask you guys to PLEASE not embarrass me too badly in front of him?!"

Bella's dad, Elliot, closed his newspaper and looked up at her.

"He?" He pointed out. "Do you have a boyfriend we should know about?" He asked. Bella shook her head.

"No, he's just a friend. And anyways, I don't have to let you know even if I get myself a boyfriend!"

"You do if you guys are in my house!"

"Touche," Bella sighed, defeated.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Bella raced to open it. She already knew who it was. Unfortunately, she lost the race. Her parents beat her to the door. Bella stood behind them nervously. They opened the door, and a smiling Finn looked at them.

"Hi, we're Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, Bella's parents. And you are…" Mr. Dawson asked, bluntly. He was very overprotective of his daughter, especially after what had happened all of the summer. Finn was unfazed by Mr. Dawson's rude tone and smiled at him.

"Finn, Finn Hudson sir. I'm a friend of Bella's from school." Finn shook Mr. and Mrs. Dawson's hand. "It's really nice to finally meet the both of you. Bella spoke a lot about you over the summer."

Mr. Dawson raised an eyebrow. "We only moved here in September." He pointed out. Bella joined the conversation at this point.

"Mom, dad, Finn is the person who saved me this summer. He got me out of Bangladesh safely. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."

The two parents' looked at him in amazement. This was not the kind of person they had expected to be tasked with rescuing their daughter. Sure he was built like a bulldozer, but he was only 17.

"You… You… saved my daughter?" Mrs. Dawson asked. Finn nodded. "But you're so…" Her voice trailed off.

"Good-looking?" Finn suggested, cracking a joke to try and fill the awkward silence.

"While that isn't untrue," Mrs. Dawson continued. "Aren't you kind of young?"

Finn shook his head. "The minimum age to join any branch of the military is 17, provided you have parental consent. I joined the National Guard as a summer job."

Mr. and Mrs. Dawson got over their shock and grabbed Finn and pulled him into a massive hug.

"You saved my daughter!" Mr. Dawson exclaimed. "You are always welcome here!"

"Thank you, sir." Finn replied, smiling.

"It's Elliot." He said, and Bella's jaw dropped. Her dad was never that nice to any of her guy friends. Usually, he had it out for them, and would interrogate them until he found something bad. He never, in a million years, let them address him by his first name. Bella decided to drag Finn away now.

"Well, as fun as this was, I have a Glee assignment due tomorrow and I have no idea what to do, so Finn, you need to help me." She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

"It was really nice meeting you both!" Finn called as Bella dragged through the house. The two parents laughed. Finn seemed like a really nice person. Like someone actually worth dating their daughter. They were 'just friends' though. Yeah right, Bella's mom thought.

"Nice place you guys have," Finn commented as they walked down the corridor. The house was around 5 times bigger than Finn and Kurt's. One of the perks of being a former ambassador of the United States.

"Thanks. We literally just moved like 2 months ago so we still have a lot of stuff in boxes."

They walked downstairs to the basement, where there was a piano, a guitar and a couple of futons and armchairs. Finn looked around the vast furnished room and then turned back to the girl.

"So, did you have any idea of a song you wanted to do? I can help you arrange it if you want."

Bella thought for a moment.

"Well I did have an idea for a song about overcoming obstacles. But I'll need your help arranging an accompaniment because I have no idea how to do that stuff."

Finn nodded.

"OK, what did you have in mind?"

An hour later

Finn clapped as Bella sang the last note. He had recorded a piano accompaniment for her song, so he didn't have to play anymore. He could just sit and watch her sing and give feedback. As he was watching her sing, he noticed things about her that he didn't have time to notice over the summer.

She was attractive. Like really attractive! She had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. Although she was wearing an old sweatshirt and sweatpants, and her hair was in a messy ponytail, she was still, hands down, the most beautiful girl Finn had ever seen.

"That was awesome, Bella!" Finn exclaimed. She smiled at him. He raised his hand for a high five and, laughing, Bella gave him a high five. As their hands connected, Bella winced slightly and Finn noticed. Finn gently lifted her hand and saw extremely sensitive skin. Then, he started noticing other things. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was yawning every couple of minutes. Everything started to make sense. He looked up at Bella and took her hands in his own.

"How long?" He asked quietly.

"Pardon me?" She asked, putting on a confused face. She knew exactly what he was talking about though.

"How long have you been having nightmares?" He asked, gently, his face full of concern for the girl. Tears sprang to her eyes. He had discerned her biggest secret in less than a day. She looked down and avoided eye contact.

"Since I got back." She admitted, quietly. "Every time I close my eyes, I see those men. No matter how hard I try to stop myself, I get in the taxi; I get kidnapped; and rather than you saving me, they shoot me and I wake up."

Finn listened to her and when she finished talking, he pulled her into a tight hug. All he could do was comfort her as she cried. When her tears finally started to fade, she looked at him.

"How do you do it? How do you walk around like nothing happened? How are you OK about it all?" She sobbed.

"I'm not OK about it. I go to a military veterans' group every week. You should also talk to a psychologist. You shouldn't let it eat you up inside."

"But… but… I don't know how I feel about talking to some random psychologist about my biggest fears and secrets." She murmured.

"Well, you need to at least tell your parents. And if you ever need to talk to someone, like someone who knows about what happened, just call me. I don't care if it's 3 in the morning. I'm here for you. But I still think you should tell your parents."

She blinked away the oncoming tears.

"But… but… what if they think I'm a freak?" She asked in a small voice.

"Then they aren't worth your time. But they're not gonna do that. They love you. A LOT."

She nodded. "OK, but can you be there with me? I'd feel more comfortable if you were there."

Finn squirmed in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Um… Bella, I don't know. This seems kind of personal."

"Please, Finn…" She said, quietly. Finn sighed and nodded.

"Fine." He said, reluctantly. A half hour later, Finn, Bella and her parents were sitting in the living room, and Bella was telling her parents about everything that happened. Finn felt very uncomfortable being in the room for the conversation, but Bella wanted him there so he stayed. He didn't say anything: he just sat there and listened. Bella gripped his hand tightly for emotional support. At the end of Bella's confession, her dad took a deep breath.

"Wow, Bella. Um… look, you're mother and I want you to be happy and healthy more than anything in the world, so we can make calls to psychologists today, if that's what you want."

"Thanks dad," She said. "It means a lot. But I don't know how comfortable I am exposing myself to a complete stranger."

Elliot nodded in understanding and then turned to Finn.

"What do you recommend we do Finn?"

Finn looked up.

"Oh, Mr. Dawson. I'm not a parent. Nor am I a part of this family. So I wouldn't feel comfortable influencing your decision in any way. Frankly, I don't even know why I'm here right now. This is clearly a family conversation."

Finn started to get up but Bella pulled him back down.

"No, you're staying. Please." She said. Finn sighed and sat back on the sofa.

"So, Finn, you went through the same thing as Bella. How do you keep yourself sane?" Mr. Dawson asked, insensitively, and Bella tensed up. Finn noticed and scowled slightly.

"Um… First of all," Finn said, politely. "With all due respect Mr. Dawson, showing PTSD symptoms does not make Bella any less sane. PTSD is a perfectly normal side effect after what Bella went through. And in terms of what I do, as an ex-military soldier, I go to a group veterans meeting. There is one psychologist, who is also ex-military, and there is a group of like 10 guys. We basically just talk. It helps relieve stress."

Mr. Dawson nodded. "Well, Bella, the ball's in your court. If you want to speak to a psychologist, we will make sure we find the best one for you. If you don't, know that your mom and I are here for you."

Bella smiled at her dad. The conversation had gone pretty well.

"Thank you guys, so much. And thank you Finn for staying with me the whole time. I know thatm must have been somewhat uncomfortable to sit through." Bella said. Finn nodded.

"No problem at all. And just know, if you don't feel like talking to a psychologist or your parents, and you want to talk to someone who understands what happened, I'm always here for you. Day or Night. I'm going to go now. I It was nice to meet you both." Finn said, shaking both parents' hands. He grabbed his coat and started to walk towards the door.

"Hold on, let me walk you out!" Bella said, following him out. She stopped him as they walked out the door. She looked at him.

"Finn, I can't thank you enough. I don't even want to know what would have happened to me if you hadn't encouraged me to tell my parents."

"It's no problem at all. And remember what I said. If you ever need anything, no matter what time, I'll be there."

Suddenly, Bella flew into his arms and kissed him fiercely. Finn was extremely shocked, but, after slight hesitation, kissed her back. Reluctantly, they both pulled away due to lack of oxygen.

"Wow…" Finn breathed as they pulled apart, but stayed inches away from each other.

"Yeah, wow…" Bella replied. They were both speechless for a moment.

"Bella…" Finn started but was interrupted by Bella.

"Finn, I really like you. Ever since I found out that you were alive, you've been pretty much all you think about. You helped me, and you saved my life when nobody else was willing to help. You risked your own life time and time again to save mine, and I think I have feelings for you."

Finn's jaw dropped and he was temporarily speechless. The most beautiful girl in the world jhad just professed her feelings for him. Eventually, he gathered himself and replied.

"Well that's great, because I have feelings for you too." Finn said, and lightly brushed her lips. They locked lips for about 20 seconds before Bella quickly pulled away.

"Crap!" She exclaimed, just realising something.

"What, was I that bad?" Finn asked, laughing. She rolled her eyes.

"No, I just realised that we never ended up finding you a song for Glee tomorrow!"

Finn shrugged.

"That's really okay. I'm sure I'll find something tonight. But I really have to be going. I don't like riding my Harley at night." He said and got onto his motorcycle. Bella waved to him as he roared out of her driveway and she sighed contentedly. It had been a long day, but overall, it had been more than worth it. In fact, for the first time in 2 months, she slept the whole night without nightmares.