Where Dreams Take You

Chapter 2

Finn POV

Finn clicked the end button on his black iPhone and shoved it into his pocket as he got up from the bed. Saying goodbye to Rachel every night was never easy. They had only been apart for three weeks so far. The longest they had gone was three months at a time, usually the breaking point for his attitude and about the time that Blaine would demand that he take a trip back to New York for a weekend. His mom and Burt would surprise him from city to city when they found time to travel, but it wasn't the same as being able to be in the same room with his wife, seeing her face, or just the simple act of smelling her hair. He knew he signed up for this when the band signed with a label, but it didn't make it any less hard to deal with.

Finn groaned as he pulled his shirt over his head, feeling the pinch in his side as he twisted. His daily reminder of that night with April. The night his life changed at the hands of a psycho fan with a blade. Crazy April. "Fan" He laughed at the thought. How could someone who called themselves a "fan" be able to do the things she did that night. Stalking him, stabbing him, going after Rachel. He closed his eyes as his hand ran down his side, feeling the slight raise in the skin where the blade entered. Thirty eight stitches. That was the number it took to close him back up. Thirty eight. His eyes opened quickly, before the images came back. He couldn't remember all that happened in the apartment as he faced his stalker; he got the information in flashes, almost like being in the middle of a lightning storm. A bright flash and her face would come into view and then it would be gone, blackness. Another flash and he would see the blade until it too was gone and all that was left was a faint image of Sam's face, his mouth moving, but no words coming out.

Finn sighed and looked into the mirror. "Get rid of the ghosts Hudson." He leaned against the dresser, his reflection close to his face as he spoke.

"You always talk to yourself or is this a new development?"

Finn looked toward the door to see the blonde hair of one of his closest friends entering the room. He ignored the look of concern on his friends face as he turned his back to him. "What's for dinner?"

He heard the long pause, the silence that hung in the air as Sam stared through the back of his head. Finn knew that Sam was still concerned after all this time about him. He was the only one that knew about the nightmares. The ones that kept him up at night while they were on the road. Rachel had seen them the most after the attack. Nights when he would wake up in a cold sweat as he dreamed about the blade entering his skin, laughter hanging in the darkened spaces of his mind. They had stopped for a while. Things had gone back to normal until the tour started up again. Being away from Rachel and the stress of dealing with fans seemed to intensify them. Sam and Finn shared a room and more than once he had to talk Finn down from one of his night terrors.

"Um….I think Puck picked some Asian place." Sam sat down on the edge of his bed and looked up at Finn. "Meet and greet at the venue tonight."

Finn looked over at him and forced a smile. "Awesome."

Meet and greet. The words hung in his mind and stuck like syrup. He loved his fans. He didn't want anyone to think that he wasn't appreciative of them coming out on tour, buying their merchandise, and enjoying the show, but meet and greet, it was a whole new level of anxiety for him.

Sam looked over at the nightstand. "You taking your meds tonight?"

Finn shrugged and pulled on his jacket. "I told you I'm not taking that shit. It fucks with my head, it messes up my rhythm. I can't play on that stuff."

Sam stood up and opened the drawer, pulling out the pill bottle. "You can't do meet and greet without them either. Do you want everyone else worrying about you too?"

Finn pushed the bottle away and walked to the door. "I'm fine. I can handle it."

Sam looked at him, defeat his only expression. "Fine." He pushed the bottle of pills back into the nightstand drawer. "But if I see any sign of distress tonight…we're gonna have to let the guys in on what's going on with…"

Finn stopped at the door and turned on Sam. "I'm fine Sam." He paused, his expression softening. "I appreciate the concern, I do. But I can handle this."

He turned back to the door, took a deep breath and pulled the handle. The rest of the suite was a flutter with the sounds of music and Puck's voice carrying through from the other room. "You're wrong man, the hulk was absolutely necessary to win that battle. Without him, Ironman would have been bits of metal on the ground."

Finn laughed as he turned the corner and saw Puck, his arms waving in the air in front of Kyle. "Whatever man, I'm just saying all he does is grunt and break shit."

"Can you boys grow up for an hour so we can eat?" Puck and Kyle turned toward him, middle fingers in the air as they followed him toward the door.

They made it through dinner with ease, laughing and joking as they discussed the things that guys do. Movies, music, getting through the tour without sex, but mostly the discussions helped to ease Finn's anxiety. By the time he got to the meet and greet he was feeling pretty confident. The long table was set up in the back of the venue at the end of the north hall, sharpie pens, the band's press shots lined up in large piles for them to sign for each person that was lucky enough to win a pass or pay for the VIP ticket.

"Ok guys, we got about a hundred and fifty today. I think the Mayor and his daughter will be here too, so play nice." Their manager, Jared was standing in the doorway behind the table as the guys took their seats. He looked at security and waved toward them. "Bring them in."

Meet and greets were pretty simple. Sign the press photo, say hello, be nice, and deal with the occasional flashes of the camera that would go off in your face. They didn't take pictures with fans during meet and greet. In fact they weren't allowed on the other side of the table at all, a rule that Finn had requested. But they allowed fans to bring in their camera and some would lean in for a photo with the guys from the other side of the table. It was something they were all used to by now.

Finn looked up as the line started to form on the other side of the barrier and security started letting them in a couple at a time toward the table. Finn always sat at the end of the table, something he chose so that he could make a quick escape if he started to feel uncomfortable. He always sat by Puck who was more talkative with the fans so that Finn would usually get away with signing his autograph before they had even finished their conversation with Puck, allowing him to escape the awkwardness of trying to start a conversation.

He looked up at the short girl in front of the table, pushing the photo toward him as he scrawled out his name under his face. "Hey, thanks for coming to the show." The girl smiled shyly and then walked toward the exit, waiting for her friends on the other side. He signed the next photo pushed toward him and he heard a scream which caused him to jump and grip his pen tighter. He looked toward the screaming to see two of the girls jumping up and down together, tears streaming down their face.

"Oh my God I touched him." One of the girls was shrilling as her friend just kept nodding her head, no sound leaving her mouth. Finn had to laugh when they got that reaction. It made no sense to him for people to get so excited just to touch one of them. He smiled and then looked back down at his photo he was currently signing. He pushed it back and smiled up at the girl.

"Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God." He heard the shrilling phrase over and over before he could even look up to see where it was coming from when suddenly someone was at his side, grabbing at his jacket and pushing her arms around his neck. It startled Finn for a moment and he pushed the girl away before he was able to control his emotion. Security was by his side a moment later, pulling the girl away from him as he stumbled back from his chair and retreated toward the dressing room, the air draining from his lungs as everything around him started to blur. His back was against the door as it slammed shut and his head hit the wood as he slid toward the floor, his knees coming up to rest against his chest as he tried to control his breathing. He ran his hand through his hair and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket, dialing Rachel's number.

"This is Rachel Hudson, I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number I'll get back to you….If this is my husband, I love you baby." He heard the beep and he clicked the end button on his phone, quickly redialing her number. "This is Rachel Hudson, I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number I'll get back to you….If this is my husband, I love you baby." It took three more times until his breathing returned to normal, her voice the only thing bringing him back down to the ground. His hands were shaking as he sat the phone down beside him and stared up at the ceiling. Anxiety was a bitch.