Hi everyone! Thanks for all the support! So sorry this took longer to update. I'm visiting my parents, so I don't spend as much time online right now. But I will be going back to my apartment soon. Oh, and my birthday's tomorrow, so I'd love reviews as a birthday present!

Chapter 34: The Surprise

"Hello, Finn."

Finn looked up and saw Lucy standing next to his bed. Why was Lucy here? How did she know where he was?

"Aren't you supposed to be serving your jail time?" Finn asked, not wanting to start an argument.

"They let me out," Lucy said simply. "They couldn't punish me for too long."

"You shouldn't be here," Finn said.

"So, did you like what I did to your apartment?" Lucy asked with a smirk.

"I knew you did that," Finn snapped.

"Yes," Lucy added. "I can't believe someone was willing to take you and Rachel in."

Finn didn't know what to say. "You practically ruined our lives. All our furniture, our beds..."

"I can do much worse," Lucy said.

Finn didn't know what to say. "You are the spawn of the devil."

Lucy lunged toward Rachel. With that, Finn had had enough. He lunged toward his former co-worker and grabbed her by the shirt. "Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Rachel."

"If you'd given yourself to me instead fo her, you wouldn't have to worry about that," Lucy sneered.

Finn shoved Lucy and -

He opened his eyes. It had just been a dream. A bad dream, but a dream. He looked next to him and saw Rachel sleeping peacefully and gave her a quick kiss.

He knew Lucy probably couldn't have done it, but had she sent friends to do it? he just had to find out.

x

"I made breakfast for you," Rachel said as Finn went to join her the next morning.

"Thanks," Finn said, giving Rachel a hug. He hadn't slept last night even after his nightmare.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked Finn.

"Still recovering from everything," Finn admitted. "Where are Shelby and Beth?"

"Still asleep," Rachel told Finn. "Are you glad it's the weekend?"

"Yeah, I am," Finn said. "It's hard to focus in school after everything that happened."

"I know," Rachel said. "I mean, we're getting back on our feet, but things aren't quite the same."

"Yeah," Finn agreed. "It was really nice of Shelby to let us come stay with her, but I really miss living with Kurt, Blaine and Santana."

"Me too," Rachel said.

"Do you think they'll want to all live together again after everything?" Finn asked.

"I hope so," Rachel said.

Finn tried to switch things to a lighter subject. "So, Sectionals are coming up. Has Kylie told you what the New Directions are doing?"

"Well, we haven't been able to talk as much as I would like now that her parents took her phone away," Rachel complained. "But she told me on Facebook that they're going to be doing some of the songs from Wicked for Sectionals. They're opening with No One Mourns The Wicked, then they're doing Dancing Through Life, and then Defying Gravity."

"Defying Gravity does remind me of you and Kurt," Finn told Rachel.

"Yeah, me too," Rachel said. "He and I were really thinking of each other when Marley and Kitty did For Good in the show."

"That song reminds me of us, too," Finn said. "You've really changed me for good."

Rachel smiled at Finn. "I could say the same thing. I have to leave for rehearsal soon. You're going to hang out with the guys today, right?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, have a nice day," Rachel said before leaving.

Shortly after Rachel left, Finn left to go hang out with the other guys at Elliott's apartment. With Elliott's permission, Blaine was inviting Finn, Sam and Artie over to play xbox (Cooper had sent him money for a new xbox to replace the one that had gotten stolen in the robbery). It had been a while since Finn had gotten to play xbox games, so he was definitely looking forward to it. He left a post it note for Shelby and Beth and then headed over to Elliott's (and for now, Kurt and Blaine's) apartment.

"You're here," Kurt said as Finn came in. "The guys are waiting for you. I've never understood the appeal of xbox."

"I tried to get you into playing it when we were at our parents' but you never wanted to!" Finn teased his brother.

"I thought Blaine had won a million dollars when it arrived," Kurt said. "I guess having a big star brother in Hollywood helps."

"I'd rather have you for my brother," Finn told Kurt.

"Likewise," Kurt said back.

Finn went into the living room, where Blaine, Sam and Artie were playing on the xbox. "Hey guys," Finn said, taking a seat.

"Finn!" Sam said. "We know you missed your xbox."

"I did," Finn said. "My parents could replace my drums right away, but not my xbox."

"Hey, we all have priorities," Blaine said as Finn took a remote control.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"So, Rachel's at rehearsal?" Artie asked.

"She is," Finn said as he began playing. "I work later today, but I thought it would be fun to just come over before I work."

"Yeah, Kurt said Santana's at the diner now," Blaine told Finn.

"And Tina's working at Macy's right now, too," Sam added. Tina had started working at Macy's, Sam was working at a gym at his school, and Artie was working at the bookstore at the Film Academy.

Finn heard a knock on the door. Since the girls were all at work, he wondered who it could be. "I'll get it," Kurt said from the couch. "I'm sure you guys don't want to be interrupted."

When Kurt opened the door, Finn heard his brother ask, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We pulled some strings and we found out we'd find you guys here," a familiar voice said. Finn looked up and saw Kylie, Kitty, Marley, Ryder, Jake and Unique standing in the doorway of the apartment.

Finn jumped up and went to greet them, followed by Sam, Blaine and Artie. "What are you guys doing here?" Finn repeated.

"Well, we told you guys that New Directions was preparing a surprise for you guys to help you through what happened in your apartment," Ryder said. "We did consider mailing it, but we wanted to give it to you in person."

Kitty sat on Artie's lap. "I'll take any excuse to come to New York and be with my man, so my parents paid for us to come."

Jake handed Finn an envelope. "The surprise is in here. Where are the girls?"

"They're all at work," Blaine said. "Will you guys be able to spend the night? They might want to be here when we open it."

"Well, the suspense is killing me!" Kurt said.

"Just open it now and act surprised when the girls get home from work!" Marley encouraged, looking excited.

Finn opened the envelope and practically dropped it as he looked. It was a check from McKinley High School, made out to "New York New Directions alumni," for five thousand dollars.

"We know it's been a rough time for you guys after what happened at your apartment, so we had a special invitational as a fundraiser," Ryder explained. "We performed and we got several other glee clubs from throughout Ohio to perform, and we raised this much money."

"It could probably get you some beds, some furniture, some clothes," Kylie added. "You guys are still part of the New Directions family."

Finn felt blown away as he looked at the check. "Wow. Thank you guys so much." He gave each of them a hug.

"Since we worked with you a lot last year and were in glee club with Blaine, we decided we'd come deliver it," Unique added.

"Well, this is such a nice surprise," Kurt said.

"If anything good's come out of this, it's seeing how many people care," Finn thought out loud. Some of their other friends and family members had given them money, and Burt had even gotten some members of Congress to donate.

"Thank you guys so much," Blaine repeated.

"So, what are you guys going to do?" Marley asked.

"We're still figuring things out," Kurt admitted. "Blaine and I are staying here, with a friend of ours. Santana's staying with her girlfriend and Finn and Rachel are staying with Rachel's birth mother."

"We do all miss living together," Blaine added.

"Yeah, I really do," Finn said.

"Have Rachel's dads seemed to have warmed up to her living with Shelby?" Kylie asked. "I know they didn't take it well..."

"Well, your parents still haven't given you your phone back!" Unique interjected.

"Rachel's waiting for them to call her," Finn admitted. "With everything that's gone on lately, she doesn't want the extra stress of arguing with her dads."

"I get it," Kylie said.

"Well, your parents should give you your phone back," Kitty said.

"They will, eventually," Kylie sighed.

"Well, no matter what happens, we are lucky to have you guys," Finn said. Despite the fact that he'd graduated, the New Directions familial bond was stronger than ever.

x

Rachel had to admit, she was nervous about going back to rehearsal. There was a second understudy just in case she and Marissa both couldn't do a show, but what if this girl had been promoted to the main understudy while she was gone?

She had to admit, with Finn being assaulted, her birth mother being sick, and the apartment being broken into, she hadn't been as committed to Funny Girl as she knew such a lead player should be. What if the director didn't like that? What if he was giving her a bad name in the Broadway world? Would she get another opportunity once this show was over?

As Rachel arrived at the theatre, Marissa and Paolo were in the center of the room, ready to rehearse the scene, and Jean was in the usual chair the understudies sat in next to Rupert. Rupert looked at Rachel as she arrived. "Thank you for coming today, Rachel."

Rachel didn't know how to respond. Was he going to say something about Rachel not having been here enough earlier? Rachel just nodded and took her seat as she watched the scene for what felt like the millionth time.

After a few runthroughs, it was time for the understudies to do the scene. After the understudies performed the scene, the director dismissed the cast members for a break, and Rachel couldn't help but notice that her director and her co-stars hadn't said anything about what had happened at her apartment. Was something this big in her home life really going to be ignored? This was a professional environment but...

"Hey, are you okay?" Rachel turned and saw the main understudy for the male lead.

"Yeah," Rachel said.

"I have some classes with Blaine at NYADA, you know," Jean continued. "The professor of one of our classes mentioned what happened at your apartment, and you haven't been here."

"I'm doing as well as I can," Rachel admitted. "It's just surprising how I came back and our director and the main stars didn't even acknowledge what I went through."

"Have you guys been getting help?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, Finn and I are staying with my mom, Santana's staying with her girlfriend and Kurt and Blaine are staying with one of our other friends," Rachel said. "We've been getting money to replace our stuff, but it's still stressful."

"Who do you think did it?" Jean asked.

"I don't even know," Rachel said. She honestly wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Whoever it was wouldn't be redeeming themself with her anytime soon.

x

"Hello, Finn."

As Finn left his shift at the diner, he turned and saw Jesse St. James. "Hello, Jesse," Finn said, trying to be as polite as possible.

"It's too bad about your apartment," Jesse said.

How did Jesse know about the apartment? He didn't go to NYADA, or work with any of them... "How did you know?" Finn asked.

"Oh, I have my ways," Jesse said.

Did Jesse know the person who'd done it? Finn just didn't say anything. "Yeah, too bad that they took all your furniture and everything."

"I don't know why someone would do something like that," Finn said.

"Well, I can see why someone would do that to you guys," Jesse said.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"There's lots of reasons why people wouldn't like you guys," Jesse said. "NYADA's hard to get into, and three of the apartment's resident's got in. And Rachel got a spot in Funny Girl. Even though it's just an understudy, that's something. Also, she's a real catch, and I can see why someone would want revenge on you for getting her. Also, wasn't there a girl who was into you recently?"

Jesse did have a point. But this made Finn wonder - had Jesse done it? "Are you saying you know something?" Finn asked.

"I'm not saying that," Jesse said as he walked away.

Finn watched Jesse walk away. All this time he'd thought that Lucy had been responsible for what had happened, but now he had the feeling he was wrong. They just had to find a way to prove it.

x

Rachel arrived back at Shelby's apartment after a day of rehearsal and work. For some reason, today had seemed longer than most days. Maybe because she was just getting back to rehearsal. When she arrived at Shelby's, she was surprised to not only see that Finn had brought Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Tina, Sam and Artie over, but to see her sister there, along with several other current members of New Directions. "Hey!" Rachel said as she came in.

"Hey!" Kylie said, giving Rachel a hug. "Earlier today we gave the surprise from New Directions to the boys, and when Santana got home we showed it to her, but we wanted to make sure you got to see it, too. Well, while we're here."

"Well, I appreciate that," Rachel said. "Where is it?"

Finn handed Rachel a check for five thousand dollars. "Look what they brought for us."

Rachel looked at the check. "Oh my God. How did you guys do this?"

"We had a special invitational fundraiser," Marley explained. "To raise money for you guys and help you out."

"We even got some of the other glee clubs from nearby schools to participate," Ryder added.

"This is amazing," Rachel said. "Thanks so much."

"And now that everyone's here, we can show you guys the video!" Unique said.

"Yes!" Sam cheered. "I wanted to see it."

Jake put the DVD in the DVD player. "The first song we did was especially for you guys."

"It was my idea," Kitty said proudly. Jake pressed the button to play the DVD, and the alumni began to watch the performance that was specifically for them.

New Directions: So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but
I'll be there for you
(New Directions boys: When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(New Directions girls: Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
Cause you're there for me too
No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst, I'm best with you, Yeah!
It's like you're always stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year
I'll be there for you
(New Directions girls: When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(New Directions boys: Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
'Cause you're there for me too

"Isn't that great?" Finn whispered to Rachel.

"Yeah, it is," Rachel whispered back.

Chapter 35 preview: Finn continues to investigate what happened to the loft and Quinn and Puck come to New York to help out with Beth while Shelby's getting treatment. Meanwhile, Finn and Blaine start to make plans for Rachel and Kurt.

SONG: I'll Be There For You from Friends

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