CHAPTER 122

Wednesday - 4 days to the final

"Hey, Nicole." Finn said.

"Hey, Finn." Nicole replied. It was 6 o'clock in the morning yet again, and they had so much to do that day.

"So, what's the plan for today, Nicole?" Finn asked. Nicole smiled.

"Well, we have a huge day today. We are going to be recording and working on your winner's single for most of the day. Then, at 5, Buble's coming in and we're rehearsing your mystery duet. We have to get this all done by the end of today because we're leaving for Lima tomorrow morning, and we won't be back until Friday afternoon, but even on Friday, we won't have time to produce anything. It'll just be sound checks and stuff."

"OK, sounds good. So winner's single now. That's pretty big. It needs to be good because if I win, this song is actually being released, right?"

"Yup, and chances are it'll be the Number 1 Christmas single, so we need something awesome. I was doing some thinking last night, and I realised something." Nicole said.

"What?" Finn asked.

"Well, I noticed that your strength is making dance songs into slower, soulful numbers. You did it with Young in your first audition; you did it with No More Drama; you did it with Diamonds. So I was thinking we do something along the same lines. How about Shontelle's Impossible?"

Finn raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm not a fan of that song at all." Finn laughed. Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, neither am I. But trust me when I say this… I think you could do an incredible job."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't like the song. There's no time to try out the song and change it. We've got one shot."

"Finn, honestly, I know you. And I know the kind of music you sing. I guarantee you that it'll be something you enjoy by the time we're done."

Finn thought for a moment. In the music industry, Finn would trust Nicole with his life, so he reluctantly nodded.

"OK, I trust you. But this better not bite me in the ass."

Nicole beamed and clapped her hands.

"Oh, it won't. Now let's get started!"

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4 pm - 10 Hours Later

"Impossible!

Impossible!

Impossible!

Impossible!"

Finn finished singing the final note of the single. They had spent 7 hours on the backing track and the past three hours recording the vocals over them because although Finn would be singing karaoke for the final, if the single was released, it would obviously include his vocals!

"OK, fine. You were right. This does actually sound good." Finn said, smiling faintly. Nicole beamed widely.

"Good? That's number 1 single quality!" Nicole exclaimed, giving him a hug. She sniffed back tears and Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay? Are you crying?" Finn asked, confused.

"Well, kinda. That song was so emotional! That final chorus…" Her voice trailed off. Finn smiled.

"You know, that's three times my performances have made you cry. I'm starting to feel kinda bad." Finn commented. Nicole laughed.

"I don't know what to say. There's just something about you. You've been an absolute joy to mentor. You are, by far, the best singer and person I've ever had the pleasure to work with, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for after this competition." Nicole said.

"Damn it, Nicole. Now you're going to make me cry!" Finn exclaimed. "But I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me over the past 15 weeks. You've not only helped me grow as a singer, but you've helped me evolve as a person too. In fact, you… you saved my life."

"Huh?" Nicole asked, confused. Finn sighed.

"Before the competition, I was in a bad place, and I was genuinely thinking about doing some stupid things. I was about to once, but my friend ran in and stopped me. Then, I actually was about to try again the day before my mobile audition for the show but I passed out from the nerves before I could. Chances are, if I got eliminated at the judge's house round, I would've tried again."

Nicole grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"Well, you know all the times you thought about giving up? You didn't." Nicole said, simply. "And now, you're fulfilling your purpose and you have your life back. And you're going to kick some Christopher ass on Saturday and Ella ass on Sunday!"

"Well, you never know. Christopher could be in the Sunday final. He does have a large fan base." Finn remarked.

"Yeah, him and his massive bank account." Nicole replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you know about that too?" Finn asked, laughing.

"Well, duh! Everyone does! It was in the papers for Christ's sake!" She exclaimed.

"True, but you never saw the master in action. The other finalists and I saw him once. He was in the dressing room, and he literally had 4 phones on the go at once. It was like he was playing some intense-ass mobile game."

Nicole laughed.

"Well, eventually, he's going to run out of money."

"Yeah. I just hope it's before Ella or I are eliminated."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a man walked in. Finn's jaw dropped… It was Michael Buble! Finn's jaw dropped and he was speechless and motionless but Nicole on the hand walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"Michael! How's it going, man?" Nicole asked.

"Pretty good. I'm pumped to be here. Nice to meet you, man." Buble said, walking over to Finn. A moment later Finn finally got over his shock and shook hands with the superstar.

"Oh my god! It's so amazing to meet you. I'm such a huge fan." Finn said. Buble laughed.

'Yeah, I'm a huge fan of you too. I've been watching your journey and when Nicole asked if I would be interested in performing with you, I wasn't about to pass up that chance."

"Well I can't thank you enough. Man, this is going to be fun!" Finn exclaimed, rubbing his hands together apprehensively.

"Damn right it is. So did you have a song in mind? I think we don't have to do one of my songs if you don't want to, right?"

Finn and Nicole looked at each other.

"Well, we kinda thought of a song. We were thinking of… (Lol y'all gotta wait till the final to see what they sing)"

Buble smiled.

"Ooh, this is going to be good." He said.

"OK guys. Enough chit chat. We've gotta get to work."

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5 hours later, Finn was exhausted. He had been singing for the past 15 hours straight and he had pretty much completely lost his voice. However, he was overall extremely satisfied. His winner's single was absolutely breathtaking, his duet with Nicole was gorgeous, and his duet with Michael Buble was on another level. Finn and Michael Buble's voices blended together incredibly well. Unfortunately, Buble had to leave at 9 pm, so it was just Finn and Nicole left in the studio. Finn and Nicole were just listening to Finn's winner's single on repeat, occasionally making small tweaks and changes. Nicole noticed Finn fidgeting uneasily with something around his neck.

"What's that?" Nicole asked. Finn sighed and took off the chain around his neck. Nicole instantly recognised it as a military dog tag, connected to the actual star of his medal of honor.

"I've been contemplating throwing it away for the past little while. I just can't bring myself to do so." Finn said, quietly.

"Finn, that's a medal of honor! Why would you throw it away?"

"Exactly. A medal of honor - a medal given for distinguished acts of bravery. I shouldn't have this. I don't deserve this. I'm not brave."

"Of course you are, Finn."

"No, I'M NOT!" Finn suddenly bellowed, hurling the medal across the room. He then stormed over to it and started stomping on it repeatedly.

"Finn! Finn!" Nicole shouted, running over to him. "What's going on?"

Finn didn't say anything. He just collapsed on the ground and started crying. Nicole had no clue what was happening, and she wasn't about to ask. She just slid to the ground next to him and held him while he sobbed. After a while, his tears subsided and he started to talk, his voice still shaking.

"I had a baby sister." He said, quietly. "When I was really young."

"What?" Nicole asked gently. "I thought you were an only child."

Finn shook his head.

"She was my best friend in the whole world. Two years younger than me."

"Where is she?" Nicole asked.

"She died 20 years ago today." Finn murmured. Nicole gasped.

"How did she die?"

"Lymphoma." Finn replied.

"How old was she?"

"7 when she died." Finn took a deep, shaky breath. "We caught it too late and she was pretty quickly hospitalised. Her getting cancer was another reason why my father became more abusive. But that story about me being thrown into the coffee table and going to the hospital… that's bullshit. The real story is that I was visiting her in the hospital for the first time and seeing her so weak and fragile rather than her bubbly, lively self… it broke me. That's the reason I ran away. She died a year later I think. I wasn't there when she died, and I didn't even come back for the funeral."

"What was her name?" Nicole whispered.

"Biz." Finn replied, quietly. "Biz Farrow."

Both of them stayed silent for a moment. Tears were running down both Finn and Nicole's cheeks.

"I told you, Nicole. I'm not brave. I'm the opposite."

"You know… you drown not by falling into the river, but by staying submerged in it."

"You don't get it!" Finn snapped. "I deserved to be submerged in it! No, I deserved to be submerged in fucking molten lava!"

"No, Finn, you don't! You made a decision that saved your life. You would both be dead right now if you hadn't done what you did, and that's even worse!"

"No, you don't fucking get it! I loved her more than anyone or anything. She was not just my sister: but also my best friend, my singing buddy, my sports buddy. I remember we used to play house, but she'd somehow convince me to be the mom and her the dad. She'd make me dress up in all of her fancy dresses and put makeup on me. I didn't care though. I would have done literally anything to make her happy back then. I even took every single blow for her when our father was being abusive. But after all of that, I wasn't even there with her when she died."

Nicole didn't know what to say.

"Finn, you're not a bad person. You not being there at the end because it was too painful only shows how much you loved her. You don't have to be superman. Everyone has their flaws. But I'm sure your sister knew how much you loved her, even if you weren't at her deathbed with her. And you know what, after the competition, you'll have a platform to raise awareness for child cancer research, and earn enough money to donate to other child cancer victims. Your sister is not the only child who has suffered from this."

"Yeah, I know. Back in high school, I used to go during the Christmas break and spend some time with the kids in the pediatric cancer ward. We'd sing songs, I'd dress up as Santa and stuff. I feel like I'll feel much better if I can donate more than just my time."

"Well, as you probably know, every last thing counts. I'm sure you made all of those kids' Christmases. And if you want to really help others, you've gotta screw your head on straight and come back fighting and win the competition. We're going back to Lima tomorrow. I'm sure you're excited for that!"

Finn smiled faintly.

"Yeah, I am. I'm also very tired so I think I'm going to head out now. I'm sorry for snapping and yelling at you like that. You're amazing, Nicole, and I don't know what I'd do without you. See you tomorrow morning."

"See you tomorrow, Finn. And remember what I said. You are a good person, no matter what you seem to believe."

"Thanks, Nicole." Finn said, and he walked out of the room.