Welcome everyone to chapter 18 of my little story, The Music in Us. I would just like to say how glad and appreciative I am how well liked & received this story has become. I hope everyone sticks with me till the end, & I'll try and make it worth your while. All the legal stuff belongs to Ryan Murphy & FOX except my characters. So please read, review, rewind, then read and review again…enjoy!
Finn got off the plane and headed into the airport at Columbus with his sole carryon bag. He flew in from Miami after receiving the cryptic message from Rachel. So having a few spare days from the tour with the band, Finn decided to fly home and see what was going on. Now all he had to do was find Burt so they could start the hour and a half drive home to Lima. Seeing as he only travelled with one carryon bag, Finn didn't need to go to the baggage claim, so he decided to wait in one of the lounges near his arrival gate.
Finn noticed he was getting a few stares, particularly from the younger crowd as he sat down in one of the lounges. He just hoped Burt came and found him soon, because even though he loved that he actually had fans, he wasn't in the mood to be signing autographs for hours. Being a musician and songwriter where there's a lot of downtime between rehearsal's and sets of music, not to mention all the downtime when he would get writer's block. Meant Finn had time to dabble in certain hobbies. One of those hobbies that Finn had undertaken in his free time was playing Angry Birds on his phone at every opportunity. He had gotten quite good with the amount he had been playing that he even had the highest score amongst the guys in the band. So as he waited for Burt, Finn thought what a better opportunity than the present to rub his Angry Birds prowess into the guys further, than by beating his already high score in the game.
After only managing to get to level five of his game, because of a tap on his shoulder, brought Finn back to reality. Finn spun around and saw his stepfather Burt Hummel standing there smirking at him.
"Exciting game there, Finn?" a chuckling Burt asked as he shook Finn's hand.
"You know how it is. I can't let my skills go rusty otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from Puck." Finn replied to his stepfather.
"Well if you don't want to start a mini riot at the airport I suggest you put your phone away so we can get out of here, before that posse of girls over there tear you limb from limb." Burt suggested while subtly pointing over towards a group of young woman whom were all giggling and pointing over towards Finn and Burt.
Finn just nodded his head as he quickly grabbed his bag and followed Burt towards the exit. Thankfully their exit was swift enough to bypass any unwanted attention from fans. As they made it to the parking lot where Burt's old work truck was parked, made Finn finally feel at home. He had a lot of great memories driving around Lima in that truck. Not to mention all the time he spent driving to and from work with Burt. It was in that truck that Finn finally felt like he had some semblance of a father figure. It was during their time in the confines of the truck where he and Burt bonded over music, sports and life in general.
Finn felt a smile come to his face as they took off towards Lima, when an old familiar John Mellencamp tape started playing softly through the stereo of the truck. Burt and Finn sat back and listened to the classic tunes playing through the stereo as they watched the Ohio countryside pass by. Thankfully the trip to Lima was a quick one as there was hardly any traffic, so it wasn't long before they were pulling into the driveway of the Hummel house.
As Finn and Burt entered the house, Finn was hit with a familiar smell, the smell of his mother's famous apple pie. That recipe which had been handed down throughout the generations of his mother's family had won quite a few blue ribbon events in Lima and throughout the surrounding areas. Quite a few fellow competitors and even a couple of diners had offered Carole money for the rights to the recipe which she refused, not wanting to sell such a well liked family recipe. A few people tried to copy it anyway and failed because what they didn't realise is that it wasn't a straight forward apple pie recipe, but contained secret ingredients only known to select woman from his mother's family.
The smell of the cooling apple pie drew Finn through the house like a tractor beam. Until he got to the kitchen and saw not only his mother but his stepbrother Kurt as well, drinking coffee while Kurt was reading a newspaper at the kitchen table.
"Kurt? What are you doing here?" Finn asked as he thought Kurt was busy at Vogue in New York this week.
"Hello to you too, brother." Kurt sarcastically replied back.
"Sorry! Hello Kurt." Finn said extremely dramatically while giving his brother a sincere hug. "But I just thought you were really busy with Vogue this week."
"I was. But then I thought I deserve a few days off, so I took some personal leave and hopped through that magic gateway that let's Glee Club alums travel to and from New York at almost zero expense." Kurt explained.
"Really! That's cool sounds kind of like Stargate!" Finn asked back excitedly.
"No not really! I hopped on the cheapest commercial flight I could find with Rachel." Kurt mundanely added.
"Rachel's here?" Finn suddenly perked up and started frantically looking around the room.
"He's like a dog looking for a bone." Joked Kurt, before Carole stepped in and grabbed Finn and led him to sit down at the table.
"She was dear. But she said she had to go get a surprise or something ready for when you got here." Carole told her son.
"Well it was nice seeing all of you, but I need to head off now…bye!" Finn called out as he tried to race to the front door, before being stopped by Carole.
"FINN HUDSON! Sit your butt down at the table this instant!" Finn begrudgingly sulked back to the table and sat down. "Now! It's not everyday I have both of my boys home, so were going to sit down and socialise like a normal family while we eat some of this apple pie. There will be no Facebook, tweeting, instagramming, or any of that other stuff kids these days do to communicate including Tinder. Do we understand each other?"
"Please tell me you know nothing about Tinder, Mum?" pleaded Finn while Kurt just snickered away.
"I know about technology Finn! Tinder is like Facebook. But instead of clicking like on someone's pretty picture you swipe right instead." Carole said proud of herself for being so savvy with technology. But she didn't understand why Kurt started laughing his head off and why Finn was sitting there with his head in his hands groaning. "What?" Carole demanded towards her two boys.
"Mum, you do realise that Tinder is a dating website and you swipe right when you think someone's hot?" explained Finn.
"Are you sure?" Carole asked sceptically. "I mean Reverend Daniels is on there." Added Carole.
"Oh, we're sure alright!" Kurt said through fits of laughter at Carole's naivety and the embarrassment of Finn.
Carole just shrugged her shoulders and sat down with her two boys, "I guess that explains those couple of questionable emails I got then. Anyway who wants pie?"
As Carole went to get the plates and start serving out the pie, Finn reached across and knocked the newspaper out of Kurt's hands. "Don't be rude Kurt! This is supposed to be family time."
"Hey! I was reading about Broadway!" Kurt declared.
"I'm glad Rachel's not here to hear you say that. Broadway's a bit of a sore subject for her at the moment" Stated Finn.
"I guessing she would probably want to hear this, since it's about her and Funny Girl." Replied Kurt.
"Really? Read it aloud." A now interested Finn told his brother.
"Okay then this is a review of the latest performance of the musical Funny Girl." Clarified Kurt.
"Only a few short months ago I wrote in this very column celebrating the triumphant return of the iconic musical, Funny Girl to Broadway. It opened to packed houses and rave reviews that mostly stemmed from the honest and vulnerable performance by Broadway newcomer, Rachel Berry. It certainly looked like the future was extremely bright not only for the success of Funny Girl but for it's leading lady as well.
Now as we look at the present, one could say, how the mighty have fallen! But I won't because I don't take any joy or pleasure in seeing a performer on the cusp of glory fall so tragically. I guess we all know by now the situation or scandal (depending on who you ask) that led to Rachel Berry being replaced in the lead role. But I just fear that we have lost a promising young performer who was just starting out with her career, because of an indiscretion that she was more than likely unaware of. This article is not about the validity of the claims circulating around Ms Berry; I'll leave that up to the court of public opinion. What it is about is the fact I would rather watch a talented leading lady with a questionable past, doing her job spectacularly; then the rabble I had to sit through the other night during a performance of Funny Girl.
Some may say my use of the word rabble is harsh, but after witnessing the most disjointed, underperformed and frankly talentless two hours of Broadway I've ever seen. Or as producer Sidney Greene and director Rupert Campion would call it a production of Funny Girl. I think the use of the word; rabble is apt and frankly quite generous.
Rachel Berry brought humility and vulnerability to her performance as Fanny Brice and not only filled the shoes of the iconic Barbra Streisand, she also made the role her own. Sadly I can't say the same for Ms Berry's successor to the role Tamara Clayton. Ms Clayton's portrayal seems more on par with a comedy sketch show than a Broadway stage. Which saddens me to say because I have been an admirer of Ms Claytons other theatrical work. But I feel the added emotional and physical strain that a musical brings is a burden to heavy for Tamara Clayton to bear.
So I guess the question is this? If a tourist or a Broadway fan asked you if they should spend there hard earned money by going to see Funny Girl, what would you say? I would say save your money or go have a bite to eat at one of New Yorks many fine restaurants. But as for a show, just go down to your local elementary school and watch one of their productions. If you want to sit and watch actors forget lines, sing off key, and fight onstage go watch Funny Girl, because that's exactly what you will see. But if a family friendly show is more your go, then I recommend any other show apart from Funny Girl! I can't believe I, a respected and revered theatre critic for over twenty-five years is going to say this. But save your money, ladies and gentleman…because Funny Girl just isn't worth it."
The three of them at the table just sat in silence as they thought about what they had just heard. Funny Girl had been absolutely blasted by the same critic who gave Rachel such a glowing review only a few short months ago. Finn wanted to think of a way he could somehow save Funny Girl from going under and get Rachel's dream back in the process. Because from what he heard from that article is that the only reason the production was so bad is because Tamara Clayton is the lead rather than Rachel. Finn didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew he wanted to do something. But first he was going to have another piece of apple pie, because he always thought better on a full stomach.
Finn drove carefully down the road towards the lake. Even though he couldn't wait to find out what Rachel had planned, he also didn't want any repeats of the hitting of the postman incident. Thank God! That particular member of the postal service could see the slight humour in the situation and could also tell it was an accident. It wasn't like Finn was some psycho out performing his own version of carmeggedon and running innocent people over. If it wasn't for that postman taking the situation so well, the Hudson family could've been paying off some very expensive legal bills for a long time.
Better keep your eyes on the road, Finn thought to himself as he continued along towards the lake. A million and one things were running through Finn's head as to why Rachel would want to meet out at the lake. Raging from Rachel had suddenly gone all environmentalists and wanted to stage a protest about water quality to Finn's personal favourite, that Rachel had become an exhibitionist and wanted to get freaky with Finn out in the open. If it was the latter and Rachel wanted to have sex in a public place, Finn was absolutely down with that. Because even though Rachel portrays a conservative, good-girl image in public, in the bedroom it's an entirely different story. Gone is the aw-shucks and please don't swear Finn, Rachel most people know and love and in her place is this dirty talking, double jointed minx who takes no prisoners.
Finn was almost drooling as he relived a particularly adventurous and amorous encounter the pair had one late afternoon at McKinley. The pair of them had stayed back to work on their duet for some competition, because as Rachel put it, it had to perfect Finn. But in typical Finn fashion he soon became bored and entertained himself by trying to get Rachel to make out with him. To cut a long story short, somehow they had found themselves in Sue Sylvester's principal office. Where a naked Rachel was furiously making out with an equally naked Finn atop of Sue's prize new photocopying machine. As their amorous activities progressed, little did either of them know that somehow the photocopying button had been pressed and was making multiple copies of Rachel Berry's naked rear-end.
The next day at school was like world war three, with Sue rampaging around the school demanding to know whose arse it was pictured in the printouts left in the photocopying machine. Sue even went so far as to line everyone up in the school and made them bend over as her and Becky went down the line comparing students posteriors with the photocopied butt-cheeks. Luckily for both Finn and Rachel, Sue's extensive measures to find the culprit was shut down by the education board for fear they could be liable for harassment lawsuits by angry parents. Sue being Sue and not knowing how to let things go kept the photocopied buttocks stuck in the office window for everybody to see, with a reward for information posted underneath. It was all worth it though according to Finn. He at least got to cross multiple things of his sexual bucket list.
But all of that flew immediately out of his head as he came up to the entrance of the lake. It was a good thing to, because if he kept on thinking about Rachel and sex, he would surely have to call upon the image of that poor postman to calm himself down.
Finn stopped his truck at the entrance to the lake and got out, because there standing in his way was a big fence with the words, private property written across. Private property? When had the lake ever been private property? Ever since he could remember the lake had always been a fun relaxing spot for residents to go to during summer. Letting the curiosity get the better of him, Finn opened up the gate and drove through. He followed the path up to where you used to be able to park your car before walking down to the lake. Finn parked his old truck in the old car park and was surprised to see Rachel's car parked there as well.
Well at least I must be in the right spot thought Finn as he started walking down towards the lake. Finn was halfway down to the lake when he started to notice the area was filled with construction equipment. Someone must really have bought the place thought Finn as he kept on walking. Until he stopped in his tracks when he saw what looked like Rachel sitting in the green grass enjoying the sunshine on her face as she watched the tiny ripples across the lake. She was wearing a multi-coloured sundress that Finn had told her was one of his favourites as it showcased her amazing legs.
"Rachel!" Finn called out as he continued to walk down to where the brunette diva was sitting.
"Finn!" a slightly startled Rachel called out when she heard someone calling her name.
Finn stopped a few yards from where Rachel was now standing, an uneasy silence falling over the pair. The both of them didn't know whether to greet each other like normal with a kiss or since they didn't exactly leave things on good terms, maybe they should just hug…or shake hands.
Until Finn broke the silence and standoff by walking the rest of the way over to Rachel and enveloping her in a big hug, "It's good to see you Hummingbird! I missed you so much." Finn murmured into Rachel's hair as he tightly hugged her, until he noticed Rachel was crying.
Finn pulled away as he saw Rachel crying, "Oh God! You brought me here to breakup with me, didn't you? So when I die of a broken heart you'll have plenty of places to hide my body!" Finn exclaimed dramatically.
Rachel managed to speak through her tears, "No…no, Finn! The exact opposite, I thought you were going to break up with me!"
"Okay! So let me get this straight. Your not breaking up with me and I'm not breaking up with you." To which Rachel silently nodded, as Finn ran a hand nervously through his hair. "Holy Hell! To quote Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon, I'm to old for this shit!"
"Language Finn! But I agree with you." Rachel motioned for Finn to sit down on the blanket in the grass, which he did while she talked. "Okay, I need to say something and I need you to promise me you wont interrupt until I'm finished okay?" Finn just nodded and motioned for Rachel to continue.
"I have always been given what I want, even from an early age all I had to do was ask and it was given. Maybe it was because I was an only child or maybe it was my father's overcompensating because I grew up without a mother. Either way I grew up expecting a lot from everyone because I always got a lot. It wasn't until I met you that I saw the merits of being a team player and being sympathetic to other's needs and I can't tell you how great a gift that was Finn. My old adage was, there may not be and 'I' in team but there is an, 'M' and 'E' and that put a lot of people off. So most people were willing to have me around, they just weren't willing to get to know the real me. The Rachel Berry without the stardom, without Broadway and without the diva attitude, until you.
You were the first person who wanted to know me and didn't care if I could hit that high note or deliver them a championship. You were always like this enigma rising out of the mist, like a siren telling me I was great no matter what, even if I didn't have Broadway. Which went against everything I had been taught growing up. My dads while not the stereotypical stage parents always told me that Broadway was my destiny and that failure wasn't an option. I heard that so much growing up that it became part of who I was. So then to hear this radical way of thinking from an extremely cute boy at school, felt like I was getting torn in two different directions.
One side was the strict, no nonsense Rachel who would do anything to perform on a real Broadway stage. Then on the other was the Rachel who started to believe what you said; that no matter what I was already a star. Couple all that in with the other advice I was getting from other Glee Club members about choosing between you and Broadway because I couldn't have both. Formed what I guess you could call a Finn vs. Broadway complex in my head. Where it seemed the two sides were always fighting it out to see who won.
So after I was unfortunately let go from Funny Girl it seemed like the side that wanted nothing but Broadway won. It also started an all out war against the other side of my brain, and was telling me, see I told you Finn was bad for you.
But the thing is your not Finn, your not bad for me. In fact you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I think of you in my life, I think of the old biblical proverb of the wise and foolish builders. You are my rock, my very foundation Finn and without you, I am like the foolish builder who built his house upon the sand and with the slightest storm it came crashing down. But with you as my foundation and support, I am the wise man who built his house upon the rock, that never wavered no matter what storm it was hit with.
So believe me when I can't say sorry enough to you Finn for saying that you were holding me back from my dreams. You are my dream, Finn just like Broadway will always be my dream and I just have to find that perfect balance between both. I want to be that girl for you Finn, the girl who is able to stand beside you through the good times and bad, without any semblance of thought of herself and what's in it for her. It may take a while to learn how to become that girl, while still being me. But I love you enough to try." As Rachel finished her apology both her and Finn both had tears streaming down their faces.
Finn quickly stood up and once more wrapped his beautiful little girlfriend in a giant bear hug that only Finn Hudson could give. "Rachel don't change yourself for me, because I only want you to be the best person you can be. So don't think I'm going to love you any less if you don't change. I know you feel bad right now because you don't have Broadway and you think your world is over. But remember this Rachel, just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
Rachel looked up at Finn with those big brown eyes wet with tears and said, "I'm sorry. Sometimes, I get jealous thinking that someone or something else could make you happier than I could. I guess it's my insecurities acting up. Because I know I'm not the prettiest, smartest, or most fun and exciting. But I do know that no matter how hard and long you look; you'll never find somebody that loves you like I do."
Finn made sure Rachel was looking directly into his eyes before he started speaking. "te perdono, je vous pardonne, ich vergebe dir, no matter how I say it or what language I use the meaning is still the same. I forgive you, Rachel, because without you I'm nothing. With you, I'm something and together, we're everything; because we're Finchel dammit!" proclaimed Finn, which caused the both of them to laugh and to start wiping away their tears.
"Now that I love you and you love me and we're one big happy family, can I ask what are we doing in the middle of an empty field?" asked Finn.
"Finn did you seriously just steal a line from Barney the dinosaur?" questioned Rachel
"Yes! I think I did. Which means I should be asking for a kiss and a hug from me to you." Joked Finn as he wiggled his eyebrows making Rachel laugh as he took the opportunity to place a passionate kiss on Rachel's soft lips while giving her another big hug.
"Wow! That was amazing! I don't know if I should be thanking you or Barney!" Rachel jokingly questioned while dramatically tapping her finger against her cheek.
"That was all me baby!" Finn said seductively making Rachel bite her bottom lip. "That purple dinosaur hasn't got anything on me!" added Finn.
"I don't know? Have you seen how perfect his teeth are? And he's always so darn happy. That's two huge pluses right there." Joked Rachel.
"Well then! Maybe I should just go jump in the lake and leave you and Barney to live happily ever after with your mutated Broadway singing, purple Jewish dinosaur babies!" Finn declared dramatically as he jokingly made a show of pretending to throw himself into the lake.
"Finn! If you throw yourself into the lake you'll never find out why I brought you here." Rachel yelled out stopping Finn from fake jumping into the lake.
"Ah! So the age old mystery finally get's solved!" Finn called out dramatically as he walked back over to Rachel.
"Really Finn…age old? You only found out about the location like twelve or so hours ago!" questioned Rachel.
"What? Why can't I be the dramatic one in the relationship for once!" Finn questioned back.
A giggling Rachel just simply patted him on the back before saying; "Leave the theatrics to the professionals, Finny!"
"Fine! I guess it's back to being plain old mild mannered Finn Hudson again!" sulked Finn.
"Finn Hudson, mild mannered? That's a laugh! What's your day job again Finn? Oh that's right! You're a rock star/songwriter/record label creator/executive and men's suit model!" quipped Rachel.
"So now I can't even be the humorous one! Geez Rachel you can't hog all the good personal traits in the relationship!" mocked Finn good-naturedly.
Rachel just punched Finn in the arm, "Shut up ya big goof!" before adding. "Now do you want to know why we're at the lake or not?"
"Fine! I promise to play nice." Finn said as he held his hands up in surrender.
"Your lucky I love you, Hudson!" Rachel said while rolling her eyes at Finn's shenanigans. "Now about why we're here. Recently I have been having discussions with various people, some expected and some not. Like my mother for example…" Rachel saw that Finn was going to interrupt at the mention of her mother. But Rachel just held up her hand signalling that now wasn't the time and she would fill him in later. "There was two particular conversations that were essential to why where here and that was a conversation I had with Noah after your surgery and a conversation I had with Quinn at Yale while you were on tour.
The conversation I had with Noah enlightened me to not only how special your friendship is, but also how much this place in particular meant to you growing up. He may have even let slip a little story about you wanting to buy this land and build a house for your family." Rachel recapped her conversation with Noah to Finn.
"Can you blame me? I mean look how beautiful this place is!" Finn said, as they looked around at all the wildlife and the sunlight flickering across the water.
"It's amazing…it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Rachel said in all honesty even though she wasn't looking at the lake but rather she hadn't taken her eyes off Finn; and was almost crying in awe at the sight of Finn witnessing nature's beauty and how it affected him.
"Anyway! I then spoke to Quinn, mainly to seek advice on the whole mummy issues thing. But we also got talking about you and how badly I screwed up by blaming you. She may have enlightened me that you were one of the special guys who would rather build a future with a girl rather than seeing how many notches you can get on your bedpost." Stated Rachel.
"Is that so wrong that I want what I never had growing up? I would see all the other families with the mum, dad and kids doing things together and I guess I was jealous. Don't get me wrong I loved growing up with my mum; she was more than enough parent for a mum and a dad. So I guess I just fell in love with the ideal of the perfect family and the white picket fence. Does that make me weird?" asked Finn.
"No Finn it doesn't make you weird, it just means you're a step ahead of everyone else; because everyone at some stage get's to the point where they want a family. Which is why I got you this…" explained Rachel as she grabbed an A4 envelope out of her bag and handed it to Finn.
"What's this?" asked a confused Finn.
"I know you heard me talking on the phone a couple of times where I may have not told you the whole truth as to who I was talking to. Well once you open that envelope everything will become clear." Rachel explained as she urged Finn to hurry up and open the envelope.
Finn carefully opened the envelope, before reading the contents inside. The contents of the envelope were what looked like a stack of official looking papers, so Finn read through them carefully before asking Rachel a question about what he was reading.
"Rach, what is this?" asked Finn wanting to make sure he was truly understanding what he was reading.
"It's a deed Finn. You got your dream because now according to the state of Ohio you are the proud owner of six acres of prime lake front Lima real estate. I was hoping it could be our family's private retreat whenever we wanted to visit Lima in the future. Because your not the only one who wants the kids and the white picket fence, I want that too Finn and I especially want it with you." Rachel told an extremely shocked Finn.
OH MY GOD BABY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, THANK YOU!" Screamed Finn as he lunged to hug his beautiful girlfriend.
"I'm glad you liked it Finny! Originally I was going to surprise you with a built house and everything but since I got sacked like a contestant on the Apprentice all that had to stop. I'm now so poor, I can't even put my two cents into conversations anymore; just like the other day the bank actually came and repossessed my entire collection of headbands. But I also need to give you part two of the surprise."
"There's more?" questioned Finn as he had already been given more than he could imagine or fathom.
"Just sit back and enjoy!" Rachel said as she pulled her iPod out and attached it to two external speakers before starting to play an instrumental track…
Another day
Without your smile
Another day just passes by
But now I know
How much it means
For you to stay
Right here with me
Rachel pulled Finn up off the ground as she continued singing and they moved over to where their future house would be. They then start pretending their sitting at there kitchen table have dinner in their new house.
The time we spent apart will make our love grow stronger
But it hurt so bad I can't take it any longer
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna die lying in your arms
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna be looking in your eyes
I wanna be there for you
Sharing everything you do
I wanna grow old with you
A thousand miles between us now
It causes me to wonder how
Our love tonight remains so strong
It makes our risk right all along
Next they pretend their sitting on their front porch drinking coffee and watching the sunset over the lake. They smile at each other as they watch the local birdlife land and launch off of the surface of the lake.
The time we spent apart will make our love grow stronger
But it hurt so bad I can't take it any longer
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna die lying in your arms
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna be looking in your eyes
I wanna be there for you
Sharing everything you do
I wanna grow old with you
Things can come and go I know but
Baby I believe
Something's burning strong between us
Makes it clear to me
The in-love couple pretends the next room is their bedroom and they lie down together snuggled into one another. As Finn points out where all they're imaginary furniture is going to go. He also points out exactly where their personal fireplace is going to be so, as Finn suggestively puts it, they can make love in front of the fire whenever they want.
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna die lying in your arms
I wanna grow old with you
I wanna be looking in your eyes
I wanna be there for you
Sharing everything you do
I wanna grow old with you
Rachel finished singing as her and Finn stayed snuggled together on the picnic rug looking out across the lake. Today had been an extremely eventful day for Finn. Not only did he get back the love of his life but also gained a beautiful piece of real estate. But what made owning the lake so special wasn't just because it was a dream of his since being a kid, but also because he would be building his family's future there with Rachel. The pair stayed snuggled together for a while longer enjoying the peace and serenity of the lake before it deciding to head home because it started to get dark.
Finn and Rachel pulled up outside the Hummel home after Finn picked Rachel up from her dad's place where she dropped off her car. The pair held hands over the centre console of Finn's truck. Despite their recent bump in the road, it seemed the couple were more in love now than ever before. Reluctantly they let go of each other's hands as they exited the vehicle, before immediately grabbing the other person's hand.
As the pair walked through the front door they almost ran head first into Carole and Kurt. Who had been impatiently waiting for all the juicy gossip of whether Finn and Rachel had gotten back together as well as how Finn reacted to his surprise. Meanwhile Burt just sat back in his favourite recliner and watched the highlights of game four of the NBA final series. While poor Finn and Rachel just stood in silence shocked that they had collided with Finn's mother and stepbrother after opening the front door.
"So what happened?" Kurt was the first to break the air of silence.
"What do you mean what happened?" Finn asked in return as he brushed past his mother and brother before going into the kitchen. Finn grabbed two beers, before heading over the lounge room and handing one to Burt before sitting down and watching the sporting highlights with his stepdad.
"Seriously! That's all your going to say after you flew all the way here from Miami just because Rachel texted you?" a not pleased Kurt asked his brother.
"What's there to say? My girl needed me so I flew home." Finn shrugged before wrapping an arm around Rachel as she snuggled into his side on the couch while also giving Finn an appreciative kiss.
"So does that mean Finchel is back on?" an excited Carole asked interrupting the sibling rivalry between Finn and Kurt.
Everyone, including Burt all stopped what they were doing and looked dumbfounded at Carole. They couldn't believe Finn's mum of all people used Finn and Rachel's couple name. To the younger ones there in the room it just sounded weird coming out of the mouth of someone like Carole, mainly because they weren't expecting it.
"What?" Carole asked noticing everyone looking at her weird. "I just want to know if my babies are back together!"
"Your babies, huh?" jested Finn.
"Please! Rachel knows she's like a daughter to me." Carole replied as she brushed off Finn's mocking.
"Mum, you do realise Rach and I were never broken up?" Finn asked.
"It was more like a short intermission Carole, mostly due to my own stupidity, mind you," added Rachel with a small pout forming on her face.
Finn hugged Rachel even tighter with the arm he had around her, "Rach! I said I forgive you, which means all that stuff is in the past and forgotten about, okay?" To which Rachel silently nodded.
"Well I guess that answers our question, about them being back together." Kurt said as he looked over towards Carole who nodded in confirmation. "Then I'm also guessing Rachel won't be hearing the latest song you wrote then Finn!" Kurt said with a mischievous smirk on his face.
"Kurt!" Finn warned which only managed to make the smirk on Kurt's face grow bigger.
"You never told me you wrote a new song Finn! I want to hear it, play it for me!" squealed Rachel getting all excited.
"Yeah! Play it for us, Finny!" an excited Carole joined in.
"Don't worry Finn! You don't have to play it for us!" Kurt provocatively said.
"He doesn't" Rachel and Carole replied in unison, while Finn replied, "I don't?"
"No you don't!" answered Kurt as he got up and snatched the remote out of Burt's hands.
"HEY!" Burt shouted.
"Sorry Dad but I'm going to have to commandeer the TV, because thanks to Puckerman he sent a video of the song's debut performance!" Kurt smiled happily as he held up his phone, causing Carole and Rachel to clap in glee and Finn to hold his head in his hands and groan.
"But its game four of the NBA finals and LeBron just cut his head open on a TV camera!" protested Burt against the commandeering of his TV.
"Burt, honey just go and watch the football game in the other room." Carole tried to placate her husband.
"First of all Carole! It's the NBA Finals, which means basketball not football! And the fabric of the chairs in the other room make me itchy!" sulked Burt.
"Don't sass me Burt Hummel! You know I don't like watching sport, so I couldn't care less if they were playing marbles or basketball! As for the chairs in the other room; it's your own damn fault for allowing Kurt to reupholster them after he claimed he knew what he was doing from watching one YouTube video!" Carole snidely replied back.
"HEY! Those chairs a fashionable, too bad I can't say the same about a lot of things around here!" a hurt Kurt replied back.
"Shut-up Kurt!" both Burt and Carole said in unison. "Fine! I'll go and watch the rest of the game in the other room, but your helping me rub lotion on everywhere that itches!"
"Deal!" replied Carole as she watched Burt grab his beer and head off towards the other room. While Finn, Kurt and Rachel all shivered and groaned at the mention of helping Burt lotion his itchy spots.
"What are you three complaining about? Your not the one's who agreed to help with the lotion; and besides that's what marriage is, you agree to help with the good, bad and…extremely ugly! Now roll the damn video, Kurt!" snipped Carole.
"Yes Ma'am!" Kurt said as he pressed play on the video….
The video opened up on a crowded bar in Miami where the members of the band McKinley were celebrating after another sold out show. Well almost everyone was celebrating, just not Finn. He was off by himself nursing a beer while once again scrolling through photos of Rachel.
"Yo! Barkeep another round for my depressed friend and I!" Finn was startled out of his depression by his best friend Noah Puckerman sitting down beside him at the bar and ordering another drink.
"I'm not depressed Puck! A melancholy Finn tried to tell his best friend.
"Seriously Finn at this point the guys and I wouldn't be surprised if you chopped off your own balls, gift wrapped them and had them specially delivered overnight by courier to Berry! But then again you already did that back in high school." Quipped Puck.
"I can't help it; I just love her Puck…no ifs, ands or buts, I just love her!" replied Finn as he finished his original drink.
Puck started looking Finn all over his body and pulling his shirt out and looking down before Finn finally shrugged him off. "What the hell are you doing?" yelled Finn.
"I'm checking to see where Berry branded, property of Rachel Berry!" joked Puck.
"It's branded in the one place where it would be too painful to remove." Finn sullenly replied.
"Oh My God! It's your arse isn't it? Don't you remember the rules of tattoos Finn? Anywhere on the body is fine, apart from anywhere on the equator that's mine!" a shocked Puck asked.
"It's not my arse you idiot! I'm talking about my heart!"
"You just had to make it all Lifetime Special didn't you! Look around you Finn where supposed to be celebrating because we just blew everyone's minds with our awesomeness! You know I think Berry's cool and all that, but can't you forget about her at least for one damn night so we can celebrate how great it feels to be taking over the world!" states Puck.
"Believe me I've tried Puck! But trying to do that just makes me even more depressed because it feels like I'm forgetting her which scares the crap out of me!" replies Finn.
Just then the bartender comes over with Finn and Pucks drinks, "Why are you depressed man? Out of anyone you should be tearing this place up, I mean all you'd have to do is say, I just became a millionaire overnight and BAM sit back and watch the panties drop!"
Puck grabs the two beers before telling the bartender, "It's girl trouble! His Mrs got let go from work and blamed him during an argument."
"Why didn't you say you guys were having girl troubles?" the bartender said as he reached across and snatched the two beers back off Finn and Puck. "Girl trouble deserves the heavy stuff!" the bartender said with a smirk as he lifted up a bottle of vintage thirty-six year old bourbon.
"I knew there was a reason why I liked you!" Puck enthusiastically replied back.
"Come on fellas! Let's get a booth and we'll crack this bad boy open and see if we can't help your friend here forget his problems…at least for tonight."
The three guys found a booth somewhere in the back and opened the bottle of bourbon and started drinking. After four or so drinks the trio were quickly becoming intoxicated.
"Women am I right!" slurred the bartender to which Finn and Puck drunkenly cheered even though none of them including the bartender knew what the hell he was talking about.
"Yeah! Can't live with them, can't live without them!" Puck drunkenly joined in.
"My Rach is sooooo pretty!" slurs Finn as he boasts about Rachel, which the other guys just ignore.
"Tell me about it! I've been with my old lady for eight years and then out of nowhere she says let's get married! Then I'm like hold up luv, you can't just spring something like that on a bloke, otherwise he'll have a heart attack! What's wrong with just having a few shits and giggles…am I right?" the on break bartender says as he pours another round of drinks.
"HA HA GIGGLES!" Finn shouts to no one in particular. "You know who has the most amazing giggle? RACHEL! It's like an instant boner!"
The bartender and Puck just look at a completely drunk Finn and laugh, "You know what they say, it's all shits and giggles until someone giggles and shits…" Puck said in reply to the bartender.
"Wise words my friend…wise words." The bartender said as he clinked his glass with Pucks.
"HEY GUYS!" Finn screams not knowing how loud he's talking because of the alcohol. "You know who else is wise?"
"Let me guess, Rachel" answers the bartender with an amused grin.
"HOW DID YOU KNOW? DO YOU KNOW MY RACHY? PUCK KNOWS RACHY!" Finn asked back, once again not realising he was yelling.
"FINN! Where supposed to be talking about what bitches woman can be! Not talking about how hot you get over Berry!" interjected Puck.
"Hey Puck am I a bitch magnet?" asked Finn while he looked at what he thought was Puck. He didn't really know because he had been seeing multiple for a while.
"What are you talking about now Finn?" asked Puck as he took another sip of his drink.
"Well! I date Quinn and then she turns into a raging bitch! I then sleep with Santana because I think it'll be quick and easy. But oh my bad! Guess what! Finn picks another bitch! Then there's Rachel, my sweet little sexy as all hell, brown eyed Rachel with the incredibly tight…" Finn starts salivating and gesturing with his hands as if he's cupping and squeezing something, until Puck nudges him to continue. "I thought Rachel was all sweet and innocent but then she turns out to be a bitch to me as well. Three out three…well done Hudson, ding, ding, ding we have a winner for the guy with the incredibly accurate Bitch radar…Finn Hudson!"
"Your not a bitch magnet Finn!" Puck assures his friend, "You just have to give it some time and it'll all work out."
"Speaking of bitches, did you know that I wrote a song with bitch in it?" Finn drunkenly said looking at the two men as if he had disclosed some scandalous secret.
"Well let's hear it then!" the bartender excitedly exclaimed.
"Okay then! Come on Puck let's find the rest of the band and show everybody my new song." Finn excitedly replied before jumping up and staggering through the crowd looking for Sam, Blaine and Ryder with Puck staggering close behind.
"SAMMMY! BLAINES! WRITER!" Finn drunkenly called out as he passed through the different groups of people, before turning to Puck and laughing. "Did I say their names right?" A drunken Finn was oblivious to people's stares at him and Puck until he saw someone staring and shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? YOUR NOT ONE OF MY FRIENDS!" before moving on.
Finn continued to wander around until he thought he found Blaine, but wondered why Blaine was standing so still and over by himself in the corner.
"HEY BLAINE!" Finn yelled in greeting at the figure, which just stood there saying nothing. "Not having a good time, huh? Well neither was I until this nice bartender man gave Puck and I some really nice drinks…then I was having a fantastic time!" Finn exclaimed, yet still the figure remain quiet. "What's with the silent treatment Blaine? What the fuck did I do to you?" yet the figure still wouldn't talk. "Well two can play that game Blaine!" sneered Finn, as he got right in the figures face and just started staring without saying anything.
Meanwhile Puck had staggered off in a different direction and stumbled across the pool tables where Sam, Blaine and Ryder were playing. Just as Sam took a shot to win the game Puck reached across and picked up the eight ball and started talking to it.
"Magic eight ball, will we be a rich and famous successful band?" then he shook the ball really hard and squinted at it. While Sam wanting to have a little fun said in his best mystical voice, "YES!"
Puck almost dropped the ball he was so surprised, "Man this thing really works!" then he asked another question, "Magic eight ball, will Quinn and I get back together?" and once again he shook the ball hard and waited. Sam looked at the guys who urged him to answer, "Signs point to yes!"
"Wow, amazing! Okay one more question magic eight ball, will I ever see my father again?" and just like the other two times Puck shook the ball hard and waited. Sam nervously looked back at Blaine and Ryder wondering what he should say, yet all they did was shrug. Until Sam decided and said, "Reply Hazy, Try again later!"
"Yeah! Sounds just like my old man, try again later…" sneered Puck as he threw the eight ball back onto the table. Then he finally noticed Sam, Blaine and Ryder standing around the pool table, "Hey guys let's go to the stage because Finn's wants to play a new song."
Sam, Blaine and Ryder followed Puck as they weaved through the crowd before finding Finn over by the bathrooms staring silently at a statue the bar had standing outside the bathrooms.
"Finn what are you doing?" a confused Blaine called out to his friend.
"AHA! I KNEW I COULD OUT LAST YOU! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH FINN HUDSON!" Finn yelled at the statue.
"FINN! That wasn't the statue it was me Blaine, I'm standing over here!" Blaine called out waving to get Finn's attention.
Finn turned around at the sound of his name and saw what looked like Puck standing there with Blaine, Sam and Ryder. A confused Finn looked at Blaine then back at the statue before looking back once again. Still confused he walked over to the Blaine standing next to Puck and squeezed and felt this Blaine's face with his hands, before finally saying. "If your Blaine then who the hell is that?" asked a drunk Finn pointing in the direction of the statue.
"I don't know one extremely good looking guy!" quipped Blaine
Finn drunkenly patted Blaine on the head; "I like this Blaine better then that other Blaine. That other Blaine was mean!"
The guys started off towards the stage but not before Finn went over and had one last conversation with fake Blaine. Finn patted statue Blaine on the head just like he did real Blaine, "You were a worthy competitor my friend! But one word of advice lay off the Botox man! It's really freezing your face!" then he walked off and joined the others on stage.
The crowd cheered as they saw the rising stars that were McKinley picking up instruments on the stage. They cheered again as they saw Finn walk up to the front mike and say. "This song is for all the guys who feel let down by their women! So ready guys lets go!"
The guys started playing out the music to the roar of the crowd…
I didn't know you collected souls
Gambling fire, rolling bones
I shoulda known you would take it all
But I never planned to be your voodoo doll
Use your lips to pull me in
Just to stick in another pin
But if you want this heart of mine
Your evil just wont work this time
I'm done with all your bitchcraft
I gotta get my soul back
We've played this game so long
I'm not sure that it will come back
I'm not trying to make you feel bad
But baby I just can't live with all your bitchcraft
Every time you cast another spell
I lose a little more of my free will
Put me in a kettle full of broken hearts
Add a little pinch from your magic jar
Just so I forget the kind of girl you are
Baby I'm catching on real fast
This isn't going to last
And I'm through eating your poison seeds
And I've built up my immunity
I'm done with all your bitchcraft
I gotta get my soul back
We've played this game so long
I'm not sure that it will come back
I'm not trying to make you feel bad
But baby I just can't live with all your bitchcraft
Baby why you gotta act like that
You're not the girl that I thought I had
I guess I thought I knew who you were
And it's a drag knowing you're so quick to kill
It's the only way you get your thrills
But baby I'm about to show you how it feels
'Cause I'm done with all your bitchcraft
I gotta get my soul back
We've played this game so long
I'm not sure that it will come back
I'm not trying to make you feel bad
But baby I just can't live with all your bitchcraft
I'm not trying to make you feel bad
I gotta get my soul back
'Cause baby I can't live with all your bitchcraft
The music stopped playing as the crowd erupted in loud applause, before everyone stopped when Puck started clutching his stomach.
"Oh God! I'm going to be sick!" Puck said as he covered his mouth with his hand as he dropped his guitar and ran towards the toilets.
"That's disgusting I think I'm going to gag!" Sam said as he scrunched his face up in disgust.
Then a still extremely drunk Finn said straight down the microphone in front of the huge audience. "You know who doesn't have a gag reflex? MY RACHY!" Finn said with a big smile on his face as the crowd especially all the males erupted into loud cheers. While Sam, Blaine and Ryder just looked at each other shaking their heads groaning at the antics of Finn and Puck.
"YOU THINK I'M A BITCH!" Rachel screamed as they finished watching the video.
"No I don't think you're a bitch, I merely said you were acting a little bitchy!" Finn replied trying to calm Rachel down.
Really Finn! Is that supposed to make me feel better?" a pissed off Rachel asked.
"Thanks a lot Kurt!" sneered Finn as he punched his brother really hard in the arm.
"OUCH! THAT HURT FINN! Don't blame me, blame Puckerman!" Kurt replied while rubbing the spot where Finn punched him.
"Don't worry Puck will be getting his!" sneered Finn
"It's not Noah or Kurt's fault Finn! You're the one who wrote the song saying I was bewitching you with my bitchcraft!" rachel interrupted.
Finn had enough it was only a few short hours ago when they were more in love than ever now thanks to Kurt and Puck they were back at square one. "Please I was hurting Rachel remember! So I vented my frustration through song, I believe that's rather healthy rather than some other ways I could've expressed myself! And I don't want to sound mean here but none of us in this room have the best track record in healthily expressing themselves when mad!"
Carole stood up and walked over and wrapped Rachel in a hug, "Finn's right honey! He wasn't trying to offend you he was just using his artistic outlet and expressing himself; after being told you resented him from holding you back on Broadway." Carole said soothingly.
"But I apologised!" Rachel said looking up at Carole through tear filled eyes.
"Yes you did dear! Now why doesn't Finn deserve that chance?" asked Carole. Rachel just silently nodded.
"I'm sorry Finn, I know you don't think I'm a bitch. But I still think we should talk about some stuff." Finn agreed before Rachel motioned for Finn to follow her upstairs so they could talk.
Finn ran over to the stairs to follow Rachel but stopped in front of his mother and wrapped her in the tightest hug imaginable. "Thanks mum! You are an absolute lifesaver! I'm going to buy you the biggest, most expensive present I can find!"
Carole laughed at the antics of her son and replied, "I don't need anything Finny as long as your happy that's all I need." Carole watched her giant son run off to follow his girlfriend up the stairs but stopped him when she yelled out. "But if your still feeling generous there was some earrings I've had my eye on."
"Consider it done my beautiful mother!" then Finn turned to Kurt and said, "I would hide anything you consider valuable Kurt and also sleep with one eye open because I don't think the cool kids at Vogue and NYADA are going to think having one eyebrow is fashionable!" Finn called out as he disappeared up the stairs.
"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" Kurt yelled as he took off after Finn up the stairs.
"That's what you get for messing with Finchel Kurt, you get the horns baby!" Finn said as he ruffled Kurt's hair.
Meanwhile Kurt screeching from upstairs, "MUM", brought Carole out of her moment of silence! Carole just chuckled to herself, there's no way in hell she was getting in the middle of this argument and just sat back and flicked over to the cooking channel on the TV.
One Week Later…
It had been a week since the tumultuous visit to Lima and Finn had since returned to the tour and Rachel returned home to New York. Finn and Rachel had talked and declared both their indiscretions were excusable because they were venting while angry. But they both declared in future they would try and talk to each other rather than let the emotions and anger build up until it exploded.
As for Finn's planned revenge on Kurt he snuck in one day while Kurt was sleeping and added some food colouring to Kurt's shampoo bottle. Poor Kurt had to walk around with blue hair for a couple of days before he managed to wash it out. Then in regards to Puckerman, Finn slipped a laxative into one of Pucks drinks and then when the laxative's effect started to kick in he watched Puck sprint to the toilet. Only to eventually find all the toilet paper rolls had been replaced with fake ones that had messages on them that read, "DON'T EVER FUCK WITH ME PUCKERMAN!" It was sweet victory to Finn's ears when he heard Puck screeching from the bathroom, "FUCK YOU FINN!" But since then for the sake of everyone's sanity they declared a truce, otherwise knowing how competitive Finn and Puck were they would likely end up dead.
But today there was nothing but peace throughout the hotel room the guys were staying in. For today they had a day off before the end of the tour in a couple of days and they were using it to lounge around the hotel room. Puck, Sam, Blaine and Ryder were currently in the lounge room watching reruns of the TV show Cops while Finn was trying to cook something for lunch. When a segment came on that intrigued Finn.
On the TV screen a bunch of cops can be seen chasing a criminal down the street before they eventually tackled him to the ground and arrested him. They then cut to an interview with the arresting officer, who said they were able to track him down because he was still wearing his name tag from work while he robbed the gas station.
The part about dumb criminals got Finn thinking about Brody and the part about the police tracking the criminal down gave Finn an idea on how he might be able to help Rachel. He ran into his room and grabbed his phone before punching in a familiar number and waiting.
"Hello Jamal speaking." Came the extremely deep voice of the bands head of security booming down the phone.
"Hey Jamal it's Finn I need a favour."
"What do you need Finn?" asked Jamal
"Does your brother still work for the NYPD?" queried Finn.
"Yeah he's a detective why?"
"I need some help finding someone, think he could help?" Explained Finn.
"I'll see what I can do. What's the name of the person you're looking for?"
"I'm looking for, Weston…Brody Weston."
Yeah Finchel is back on…Finchel is forever! Hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter. But I wonder what Finn is planning on doing? And if he can track down Brody; whatever will happen with Brody and Finn alone in the same room? Guess we'll have to wait and see. The songs used in this chapter were 'I Want To Grow Old With You' by Westlife, 'Bitchcraft' by Drake Bell. Like always see you next time. Have a good one and don't do anything I wouldn't do.