The New Kid Chapter 133, a glee fanfic

CHAPTER 133

"Oh wow. With only 53% of the vote, so barely any difference, I can reveal that the winner of the X Factor 2018 is… "

Finn's heart pounded like a bass drum. If it was only a 53% win, it could definitely be either of them. Finn and Ella smiled faintly at each other.

"FINN HUDSON!"

When Finn was declared winner, his mind started spinning at a million miles an hour. He went from defeat to confusion to ecstasy to sadness for Ella, to controlled happiness within a matter of seconds. Ella, Nicole, Dermott and Tulisa all gave Finn a hug in congratulations. Once he was finally starting to get over the shock and the overwhelm he was feeling, Dermott walked over and stood next to him, holding his hand in the air as a gesture of Finn being the champion.

"Ladies and Gentlemen… your winner… Mr. Finn Hudson!" He exclaimed. "I bet you're pretty overwhelmed. What's going through your head right now?"

"I don't know." Finn said. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Man, you've come such a long way. All the way from busking in Lima. I know you didn't have the best time doing that - thinking how in the world you could get out. And now here you are. On this stage having just won the X Factor."

"Wow… I… um… I…" Finn stammered. He had no idea what to say. He was just speechless. He spied the New Directions in their VIP booth, celebrating and dancing around in glee.

"And Ella, let's have a word with you." Dermott said. "What an absolutely brilliant runner up! You have got such a bright future ahead of you and you've come such a long way in this competition, haven't you? Like the person I interviewed in week 1, I could barely get a word out of. And now, you've blossomed so much. What are your thoughts right now?"

"I just think it's such a blessing to share the stage with such a talent. You're so amazing, Finn. I'm not even that disappointed about losing, knowing that such an amazing artist ended up taking home gold. Use this platform wisely, Finn."

"Well, you know what? That goes for both of you." Dermott said. "You've been a terrific runner up. Give it up, one more time, for Ms. Ella Henderson!"

Ella and Tulisa walked off stage together but Nicole and Finn stayed on for Finn's quick post-victory chat with Dermott.

"And, here it is…" Dermott said, handing Finn a small box. Finn opened it to reveal his CD of his debut single. It was completely with the graphics on the cover designed by professional personnel and the photo taken in a professional shoot a couple of weeks ago. "His first ever single, Impossible. That's going to go out with half your earnings going to Help for Heroes. How are you feeling about that?"

"Well, you know, there are so many amazing charities out there and if I could, I'd give to every single charity, but the reason I picked this one is that it resonates with me personally. I was a veteran with severe mental health issues when I first got out, but because my situation was so unique, none of the veterans' aid I got was helpful at all. I remember how powerless I felt back then and if even just 5 veterans don't have to go through what I went through because of this donation, I'm a happy man. Thank you to all of you who voted for me. I'm so thankful."

"Listen, I know you're kind of struggling to talk because of the overwhelm you're feeling, but can you sing for us?"

"I'll give it a go." Finn laughed.

"Thank you very much. You get ready." Dermott said and then he walked over to the cameras. "So, this is where he wanted to be all those months ago when he sang Tulisa's song even better than she could, and now, he has seen off thousands of auditionees. Ladies and Gentlemen… with his debut single, Impossible, please welcome the winner of the X Factor… the gentleman that is Mr. Finn Hudson!"

I remember years ago

Someone told me I should take

Caution when it comes to love

I did

And you were strong and I was not

My illusion, my mistake

I was careless, I forgot

I did

And now when all is done

There is nothing to say

You have gone and so effortlessly

You have won

You can go ahead tell them

Tell them all I know now

Shout it from the rooftops

Write it on the sky line

All we had is gone now

Tell them I was happy

And my heart is broken

All my scars are open

Tell them what I hoped would be

Impossible, impossible

Falling out of love is hard

Falling for betrayal is worse

Broken trust and broken hearts

I know, I know

Thinking all you need is there

Building faith on love and words

Empty promises will wear

I know, I know

And now when all is done

There is nothing to say

And if you're done with embarrassing me

On your own you can go ahead tell them

Tell them all I know now

Shout it from the rooftops

Write it on the sky line

All we had is gone now

Tell them I was happy

And my heart is broken

All my scars are open

Tell them what I hoped would be

Impossible, impossible

I remember years ago

Someone told me I should take

Caution when it comes to love

I did

Once Finn started singing the show-stopping final chorus, the entrance of the stage behind him opened and all of the finalists came bursting out. They rushed over to him and Finn felt himself lifted onto Kye and Rylan's shoulders in celebration as he sang. Confetti flooded down from the ceiling, sprinkling Finn and the other with flecks of gold. At this point, Nicole left the judges panel and walked on stage to join the fan.

Tell them all I know now

Shout it from the rooftops

Write it on the sky line

All we had is gone now

Tell them I was happy

And my heart is broken

(Tell them oh) I hoped would be

Impossible, impossible

At the end of the song, after being hugged by Nicole, Finn was practically piled onto by the other finalists. Finn was not only the best singer but also was one of the nicest finalists so nobody was unhappy about his victory. Well, nobody but Chris, but he wasn't present anyways.

"Ladies and Gentlemen… one more time… give it up for your winner of the 2018 X Factor… Finn Hudson!"

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The next stage would be his winner's interview with the Xtra Factor, but because Ella had her runner up interview before him, Finn had about an hour and a half to kill. Rather than having a drink like many of the previous winners did, Finn just lay on the green room sofa and took a nap. Now that the competition was over and the adrenaline rush he seemed to be having for the past ten weeks was gone, Finn felt immensely tired and worn.

He was rudely woken up exactly 90 minutes later by his alarm blaring through the greenroom. Finn groaned and stood up and yawned, refreshed from his power nap. He made it to the Xtra Factor interview studio just in time. Nicole was going on with him and she smiled at him when he walked over.

"Hey, man. How'd you feel?" Nicole asked.

"Tired more than anything." Finn replied. "I did this competition because I wanted the breakthrough into the music industry but if I knew it was that much work, I'd have just volunteered for one more tour in Afghanistan." He joked. Nicole laughed.

"Yeah. The competitors usually spend their Christmas away from everything to do with the competition and just kick back and relax for a few weeks. You think you're going to do that?"

Finn nodded.

"Yeah, definitely. I still have a lot of the money I earned for Skyfall, and then now I earned a million dollars from the competition's record deal."

"You've earned more than that!" Nicole exclaimed, checking her phone. "In two hours, you have already skyrocketed to the third most bought X Factor winner's single of all time. You're number 1 in the charts. 800,000 records have already been bought which means that's half a million bucks extra in your pocket."

Finn wolf whistled.

"Damn, that awesome! Your boy is going to Bora Bora!" He exclaimed. Nicole laughed.

"You deserve it, man. And you need the rest. Take it from me: writing an album isn't as easy as you'd think."

Finn nodded.

"I'm sure that's true, but I know that whenever things get tough, I just have to think about my life before the competition and I'll shut the hell up and put my head down and work."

Nicole smiled and nodded. Before either one of them could say anything else, they heard Caroline Flack introducing them.

"It's time to welcome this year's X Factor winner and his winning mentor. Make some noise for Finn and his mentor Nicole!" Caroline exclaimed. The contestants, who were all celebrating in the studio with glasses of champagne in their hands, cheered as Finn and Nicole walked on set together. Finn was quickly handed a glass of champagne by Rylan and Finn downed it in one gulp. He needed it.

"Congratulations." The two Xtra Factor co hosts said and Finn shook hands with both of them before sitting down next to Nicole for his interview. The finalists had started chanting the chorus of 'Gold' and clapped for him as he sat down. Finn smiled to himself. Being champion sure was fun, and it was only going to get more so.

"Well, Finn, what's it like being champion?" Caroline asked.

"I honestly thought Christopher Maloney was going to win!" Finn exclaimed. The co hosts laughed. They then opened the phone lines for the public to call in and ask Finn questions.

"OK, well we've got Lisa on the line to ask you something. Lisa, are you there?" Olly asked.

"I am. Hello Olly, hello Caroline."

"Hello." They both said. "Your question for Finn please?"

"What are you going to buy with your first paycheck?" She asked.

"Ooh, good question!" Caroline exclaimed. "Finn, what are you going to buy with your first paycheck?"

"Do you mean after the bar tab tonight because that's going to be a pretty long tab!" Finn joked. "But also, I was just telling Nicole that after this incredibly stressful competition, I'm going to take a couple of weeks to unwind completely and go to a tropical island. Like Bora Bora, Hawaii or something. I might take a buddy with me as well. Um… I also obviously want a place to live here in NYC because I don't really want to be staying in Lima."

"Nicole, what are you and Finn going to do tonight to celebrate?"

"We're gonna drink!" Nicole stated. "Um… I mean I feel like Finn needs the drinks more than I do. I've kind of been celebrating the whole time, just having my three boys as my mentees."

"Awwww." Caroline said. "Finn, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to drink!" Finn laughed. "And I'm gonna sleep. I don't think I've slept more than two hours a night in the past month so I need to catch up on that! In fact, I just took a two hour nap in the green room I was so tired!"

"Ok, we've also got Maddie on the line who would like to ask you a question. Maddie, what's your question for Finn?"

"Hi guys!" Maddie exclaimed. "What's the most important thing Nicole has taught you?"

"Um… from day 1, Nicole just gave me artistic license and told me to just keep being me and not conform to traditional X Factor performances. That really stuck with me."

"Who do you feel like has been your biggest support through all of this?" Caroline asked.

"Um… definitely Nicole." Finn replied. "Approaching weeks 9 and 10, I was the only boy left so Nicole and I were spending up to 15 hours in the studio a day. I didn't really have a chance to talk to anyone else, to be honest! I'd be in the studio for 15 hours and then I'd be too tired to skype my friends after. But also, one of my biggest supporters was the contestants right behind me." Finn said, pointing to them. "It was scary for someone like me to join the X Factor and the contestant made me feel valued and welcomed and I can't thank you guys enough for that."

"One final question is from Ellis. Ellis, are you on the line?" Olly asked.

"Yeah, hey guys." Ellis said.

"Hey Ellis, what's your question for Finn?" Caroline asked.

"Finn, what was your favourite song to perform?" Ellis asked. Finn laughed.

"My favourite song? Oh, that's so hard! I loved all the songs I performed!" Finn exclaimed. "But the ones that stood out for me the most were probably first of all, Young in my first audition. That was a huge moment for me and getting the standing ovation after was insane. And also my original song that I sang in the semi finals last week. That was the song that pretty much got me to the finals and for it to be my own song was amazing for me."

"How did it feel to win tonight?" Olly asked. Finn shrugged.

"As far as I'm concerned, both me and Ella won tonight." Finn replied. "Going into the final, I thought that if I make it past Chris and force a grand final vs Ella, I've done more than good enough for myself."

"And how excited are you to begin writing your debut album?" Caroline asked. Finn smiled.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Finn exclaimed. "This is what I've been dreaming of happening my whole life and to think that it's finally happening is incredible."

"Ok, we've got one more thing to do before we wrap up the Xtra Factor for the year…" Caroline said. "As you all know, the Xtra Factor is the first to know everything. For example, we were the first to know the theme every week. #OurIdea. We're also the first to know this year's voting statistics, which I have exclusively in our hands. Dermott, come over here. You're the host. You get to hear these numbers too!" He exclaimed.

Dermott, the host, sauntered into the room and after shaking hands with Finn, he sat down next to him, ready to hear the news.

"So, in week 1 when Melanie left, the person with the most votes - 28% of the vote - was Christopher."

Everyone oohed and aahed.

"And second place was Ella." He finished.

"Week 2, MK1 left." Caroline said. "First place Christopher, second place Ella."

Everyone was slightly disbelieving at this. They knew that Christopher had been buying votes but if he was first place, how many votes could he have possibly bought!

"And in week 3, Jade left." Olly said. "First place CHristopher, second place Ella."

"In week 4, Kye left." Olly continued. "First place Christopher, second place Ella!"

"No way!" The contestants exclaimed. They knew that Ella deserved her place but seriously, Christopher? 4 weeks in a row?

"In week 5, Lucy left." Caroline said. "First place Christopher, second place Ella."

Everyone's mouths dropped. Christopher had dominated the first half of the competition. Dermott was just as shocked as the rest of them. He was only told the bottom two each week, not the top two.

"We know Finn won, right?" Dermott double checked, jokingly.

"Yeah, it's coming up." Olly said. "In week 6, District3 left. First place Christopher, second place Ella."

The whole studio started to boo. What was up with the voting?

"Week 7, Jahmene left. This was a big shock to all of us. First place Christopher, second place Ella!" Caroline exclaimed.

Finn felt like there were about to be riots in the studio at this.

"But! But! In week 8…" Olly exclaimed. "Things changed. When Rylan left, Finn won with 40% of the vote! And second place was Christopher!"

Everyone cheered as Christopher was dethroned, even if he was still second place.

"Everything seemed to change there around about week 9 when Union J left." Caroline said. "Finn absolutely smashed this week, breaking an X Factor for most votes in a non-final week. Finn won with 64% of the vote, and second place was Ella!"

Everyone cheered and wolf whistled at Finn's record breaking feat.

"And tonight's result, as you know, Finn won with just 53% of the vote so it was so close! Which means that Christopher won the shows from week 1-7, and then Finn stormed through after this point. Oh, and another record Finn broke… Finn, you are the only contestant ever to win the show after being in the bottom two!"

Finn smiled.

"What did you think of them, Dermott?" Olly asked.

"I'm shocked. I'm shocked because I thought they would be more wide open. I thought that there would be more various acts."

"Well, Dermott, on behalf of the nation, thank you for being a fantastic host this year and keeping everything together. And all 12 of you contestants, thank you for being such amazing contestants. We're pleased to announce that this year's X Factor has the highest view count ever!"

"Whoo!" The contestants cheered.

"OK, we're wrapping up the X Factor for the year. Thank you so much viewers, judges, hosts, competitors. We're already counting down to next year's competition!"

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"Everybody! Here's to my boy, Finn! After ten weeks of insanely hard work, he came out on top! He's the best of the best! Cheers!" Rylan exclaimed. All of the contestants, mentors and Finn friends were all in the bar that night, drinking and celebrating the end of the competition. Finn was holding a glass of top shelf scotch for the first time and it tasted incredible. As everyone was celebrating, Finn slid into an empty booth and drank his drink silently. As he was drinking, he felt someone slide into the booth and he looked up. It was Nicole. Finn nodded at her.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey, man. How are you doing?" Nicole asked. Finn forced a smile.

"Good." He replied. Nicole raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. Drop the act. I've known you long enough to know when you're lying." Nicole stated. Finn immediately dropped the phony smile. He sighed.

"OK, fine."

"What's up, buddy? You should be on top of the world by now! You won the X Factor!"

"Yeah, I guess. It just doesn't feel as good as I thought it would."

Nicole nodded.

"Honestly, I knew you'd say exactly that."

"You… you did?" Finn asked, confused.

"Yeah, I did. Finn, you spent the last ten weeks throwing yourself into work. You didn't have to work for 15 hours a day but you did. And there's a reason for that. You, Finn Hudson, are lonely."

Finn raised an eyebrow.

"You do realise that everyone in this bar is celebrating me, right?" Finn remarked. Nicole shook her head.

"Alone and lonely are very different. You are definitely not alone, but I do think you're feeling lonely and I know why."

Finn had stopped listening to her at this point. His eyes were trained on someone behind Nicole's shoulder. A blonde had just walked into the bar. A blonde that Finn hadn't seen in three years and he was both dying and dreading to see at the same time. It was Bella…