Once Upon A Time In Lima (Part One)
Title: Once Upon A Time In Lima
Author: hopenight
Artist: breea1
Genre: Slash, Fantasy, Romance, Humor, Alternate Universe
Word Count: 15, 226
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Finn Hudson, Will Schuester, Noah "Puck" Puckerman, Rachel Berry, Brittany, Quinn Fabray, Terri Schuester, Will/Finn, Rachel/Brittany, past Will/Terri, past Quinn/Finn, past Quinn/Puck
Warnings/Spoilers: boy kissing, age difference, AU
Author's Note: I would like to tank the people over at the winnners community for just being them! I would also like to thank starryskies/ gleeful_beatfor just being there! I would like to thank my beta squire_conrad
Summary: We are shown early on that life isn’t like a fairytale or a legend. However, there are those rare cases when something magical happens. Finn Hudson’s case is in the more extreme version of things. After breaking into a house on a dare, he meets Will who is a really nice guy with a killer voice. Problem is that he’s kind of cursed to look like a horrible beast.
Suddenly Finn finds himself spending time with Will and falling a little bit in love. However, his best friend and his ex-girlfriend are keeping a secret. He has to help start a lesbian relationship. And in the midst of all this, he needs to make his happy ending. No said being in your own fairytale would be easy after all. It just makes life so much more interesting.
“Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.” -G.K. Chesterton
Every small town has a legend. It’s something to spark the imagination. A legend allows the children of the town to dream of life outside it. Even if they don’t leave they will pass it onto their own children in the hopes that they will be even more inspired then they were to get out of dodge. Lima, Ohio is no exception to the rule.
As it is in a small town, there is a child who collects legends like one would collect trading cards or stamps. In Lima that person is not geeky Artie Abrams, shy Tina Cohen-Chang, or even popular Quinn Fabray; the person is Finn Hudson. His quirk is collecting legends.
Everyone has a quirk (or a lot of quirks). Something in their personality that is unique only to them. That thing that someone could casually drop into conversations like that they are a mild perfectionist or that would be revealed after years of knowing each other like a vestigial tail. Finn Hudson’s quirk is somewhere in the middle.
Collecting legends is not something one goes about lightly. No it has to be sparked first. There has to be a moment of connection, almost like a Eureka moment without any world shattering discoveries. This sort of moment happened to Finn when he was ten.
Noah “Puck” Puckerman would be the one to blame for Finn’s quirk. Even at the young age of ten, Puck’s future as a playboy could be clearly spotted. He had kissed most of the girls in their fifth grade class and about half of the girls in the sixth grade class. There was a rumor going around that he kissed an eighth grader, which was pretty big news. So yeah it wasn’t a huge leap to his late teen years where he routinely bangs cougars and makes it with the cheerleaders fairly regularly.
One night, Puck was staying over at his house. They were messing around on his computer playing some game where they blew up aliens or whatever, when the power went out. Both boys groaned in exasperation because they were on the second to last level. And really life was just not fair like that. They grabbed a couple of candles and a flashlight from Finn’s mom before trudging back upstairs. There was a distant rumble of thunder, a flash of lightening. An early spring thunderstorm loomed on the horizon.
“Dude,” began Puck taking out a book, “Look what I got.”
“It’s a book,” said Finn with a raised eyebrow.
“Great deduction, Sherlock,” intoned his best friend, “It’s full of these awesome stories.”
“Fantastic,” said the too tall ten year-old, “So why do you have it?”
“You trying to get me mad?” growled out Puck in tone that would later strike fear into the hearts of upper and under classmen alike. Right now, it really wasn’t that threatening. Then again, the voice never really got to Finn in later life. So it could be a lot scarier than this memory is providing.
“Sorry, so you have a book?”
“Of urban legends,” said Puck with a ‘duh’ tone in his voice, “Really creepy and awesome stuff too. There’s a story about a guy who gets skinned alive because he was caught having sex with this guy’s wife. So now he kills couples whenever they get stuck on this road right?”
“Really?” The sex stuff really didn’t hold any interest to Finn. It was the more of a skinned psycho running around killing unsuspecting couples that caught his interest. Ah boys at that age.
Puck grinned, “Wanna see it?”
“Lemme think about it…Duh!” Finn said as he made a move for the book.
So late into the night he and Puck scoured the book for the freakiest, scariest, and the downright grossest stories they could find. And around two in the morning when Puck dropped off into sleep, Finn kept on reading the book going back to the sappiest ones, the silliest, and everything in between. He stayed up until dawn peeked over the horizon and the lights flickered back on in the house.
The Finn Hudson that greeted that day was irrevocably different than the one from the night previous; he had found his quirk. After that night, he began to search for legends. Old stories that have been whispered and changed so much over the years that no one knew where they began. He searched for maniac hitchhikers and dead girls wanting to go to their senior prom. He gathered books upon books and if you needed a good story, then let him spin you a tale from your own backyard to the farthest reaches of the globe and back.
When he reached the age of eighteen, he was no longer a scrawny child but a strong youth. He was tall, broad, and handsome with a grace in his limbs that came from years of sports and balance training. He was known for his athletic prowess, his gentle nature, or his standing in the social ladder. His quirk was hidden by his girlfriend, who deemed it to be too ‘weird’ for her tastes. He still found his legends, still found his stories, and waited patiently for his own to happen.
Little did he know that it was happen so very soon…
“The impossible often has a kind of integrity to which the improbable lacks.” -Douglas Adams
The beast stared out of his lonely window on his house on Oak Street. It was a towering, spooky hulk of house. It was almost the kind where the mad scientist lived with the Victorian trappings. All you needed were a couple of bodies in the basement and some ominous thunder to make it picture perfect. The beast sighed as he pulled away from the window letting the curtain fall. The house was once beautiful, full of life, full of love, full of dreams. But as they died and the man became a monster, then so did the house.
The beast wasn’t a particularly ferocious beast. He didn’t feel the need to attack small animals and harm small children. He didn’t want to kill people and grind their bones for flour. He felt no urge to howl at the moon or to wander around naked. Actually, he wasn’t a very good beast.
So for story purposes, he will be called by his human name: Will.
See he wasn’t born a beast. No he had a life. He had friends. He would go out and see the world. He was a teacher. He was a devoted son. He was a good person with a bigger heart than most. No one had a bad word to say about him. But most of all, Will loved to sing above all else.
His voice was bewitching. It was smooth and silken, like the world’s finest chocolate or wine. He conveyed emotions through the song that made people weep, or laugh, or even fall a little bit in love. His voice had power, strength, and never did he realize its power. He just loved to sing. He loved to wake up something in people that they never even knew was in them before.
Most of all he just wanted to make people happy; wanted them to realize how much better they could be. He loved people except in their cruelty. He tried to open his heart to the world even when it hurt. He was a beautiful person inside.
He was also quite fetching outside as well. He was tall and filled out with lean muscle. He had a grin filled with mischief and sweet gray-green eyes. He had pale skin and broad shoulders. Curly hair would fall into his eyes. He had the type of beauty that a person would see if they did a double take. It wasn’t evident at first glance but look a second time and BAM! You would be hit with it.
So Will had it all: friends, family, career, voice, looks…what else could a guy want?
Oh yeah, he wanted to fall in love.
He met Terri. And for the longest time, he was convinced that he was in love with her. When the two met, she was a sweet girl with a virginal innocence. She wore no makeup, preferring a natural look. She would wear her hair loosely and her feet were often bare. Will was certain that he would love her until his dying breath.
Sadly, that was not what turned out for them. As the years past, Terri’s innocence became spoiled with greed and wicked desire. She wanted more than the simple life that Will could provide. She wanted power, riches, and the vanities that often spoiled many a good person. Sometimes, the will in the purest of heart is weak and falls into the abyss of material things; such the case with Terri. She began to demanded more and more of her overworked lover.
Will was beginning to tire of these changes in her. He knew that soon he had to end the relationship, much as it pained him. Losing a love hurts, but losing himself would hurt a lot worse in the long run. So he sat Terri down one night and told her.
“I think we should try a separation.”
Terri blinked at him uncomprehending, “What?”
“It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, Terri. I just think that we’ve grown apart and I don’t want us to be one of those couples that hate each other in the end. It would hurt too much.”
He stared at his folded hands rested on his lap. He looked at the woman who he thought would be his wife one day before whispering.
“I’m sorry.”
“No! Will! You can’t,” said Terri standing suddenly with fire in her eyes, “Do you know how much time I invested in this relationship?!”
“We don’t want the same things anymore, Terri! You want me to be this rich, successful guy and I’m not sure that I can be that guy! I DON’T want to be that guy! I’m happy living here, teaching. I love this town. I love what I do. And I thought that you wanted it too, a long time ago.”
Will turned his head and looked down at his feet, “But I guess I just deluded myself into thinking that…”
They stood together for a long time the pieces of their relationship strewn around their feet like shattered vase. There were millions of pieces but there was no glue to bind them together again. There was no magical solution to bring them back to be the people that they once were, to be those kids in love, to turn back time. Will walked over to Terri and gently kissed her one last time.
It was a kiss of goodbyes filled with bittersweet feelings, broken dreams, and empty hearts. Then again all their kisses lately felt like this. Maybe they refused to acknowledge it, accept the fate for what it was. They were comfortable with each other, safe in their sham of a relationship. It was a good thing that Will decided to take the training wheels off of comfortable love and try to ride that bike to the scary newness of falling in love again.
Doesn’t mean that the scrapes on his heart hurt any less though…
When they broke from the kiss, Will packed a bag and went back to the Victorian home where his parents had once lived. He took residence in his old bedroom and wept for the relationship that had long been dead.
Terri, however, was a persistent person. She refused to believe that the relationship she had invested so much of her time in was dead. Will was so close to breaking, giving in, becoming an accountant. She did not want to work those four days a week at Sheets ‘N’ Things. Please her hands and constitution weren’t made for manual labor.
So she devised a most dastardly plan.
She went to her sister for help. Kendra knew how to break men. She crushed her husband spirit rather easily with her demands and their three hyperactive sons in tow. She could command the opposite gender like a red queen. So Terri knew that Kendra could definitely help her get Will back with little trouble.
“Magic,” said Kendra simply after Terri finished explaining her most unhappy situation. She gave a sly grin as her boys ran about in a swirl of energy and red hair. Her husband glanced longingly out of the third story window (with no balcony how odd) before chasing after them.
“Magic? Kendra we aren’t little girls anymore. I need something!”
“I’m telling you, Ter. It’s magic you need. I use this little number,” she brandished a glass vial filled with wicked green glowing liquid, “To keep my husband complacent. I’ll give you the address of the guy that I use. He should be able to fix you up with something to help Will see the light.”
Terri chewed her lip for a moment. Her Nana warned her about the dangers of magic in the old fairytales from when she was a girl. But desperate times called for desperate measures, the little girl thought she was grown enough not to heed the advice of her elders. So Terri assented to get the address.
Three days later, on the night of the new moon, Terri walked out of a normal store with a vial of neon blue. Her bank account considerably emptier then it had been previously. But it would be worth it if it got Will to see the truth. He needed her.
She was his true love. And this potion was going to help her.
Will was alone the night Terri knocked on the door to his parents’ house. Puttering around the kitchen, singing softly under his breath, Will was healing his disappointed heart. He was beginning to rediscover who he was, especially his singing. The last two years, she didn’t really like him singing. She said it hurt her head after all long day folding towels at Sheets ‘N’ Things.
He rarely had to deal with his own headaches. He taught high school.
Go. Figure.
The teacher was surprised when he saw Terri standing on the front porch. Her smile was pleasant. Maybe the breakup was good for the both of them. So when she asked if he could let her in, he agreed. He may not have held the same type of romantic love but he could still be a friend, right?
(People always did say that he was too trusting. He would reflect later on.)
He opened a bottle of wine. They talked, reminiscing over old times they shared. They drank well into the night. Then Will pardoned himself to use the bathroom. Terri took her chance. She popped the top of the vial and dumped the blue liquid into the wine.
The contents of the cup glowed briefly and a puff of silver smoke went up. It was done.
Will came back a few moments later. He was none the wiser until he took a sip of the wine.
A blinding pain overcame him. It felt like he was ripped to shreds. He was cracked and broken and twisted back together into an unnatural shape. He cried and begged. He wanted to die. The pain shot through him without mercy in the slightest. He could see Terri watch on horrified but with a hopeful expression on her face.
He fell into blackness.
“The beast inside is our baser desires for we are fearful of what they will do to us should they be set free.” -Unknown
Finn knew the stories about the old Victorian house on Oak Street. They were pretty awesome legends too. They are some of his favorites if he was completely and utterly honest about it. They are the only local legends that seemed to be pretty cool.
Because face it.
Lima’s a really dull town. Seriously the only really interesting thing that happened was when Old Lady Kingston lost an eye at bingo. Really, who knew old ladies could be so vicious about their lucky troll dolls? Finn sure as hell didn’t. He actually never saw the appeal to those things. They kind of freaked him out in a really bad way.
So he stretched out and looked at Puck, who was staring up at the sky.
“Tell me a story, Hudson,” demanded the mohawk football player. He usually demanded stories from Finn so he could tell his baby sister later. Which Finn thought was kind of nice. Most people thought that Puck was a douche, and he could be most of the time. But then there were those parts of Puck that he hid because it would mess up his street cred, something nearly unheard of in Lima.
Seriously who the hell could have street cred in freakin’ Lima?! Well Puck could but Finn really didn’t question the extent of his best friend’s badass-ness at this point in time. So he stretched back and thought of that old house on Oak Street.
“So you know that house on Oak?”
“The really fuckin’ creepy one?” asked Puck looking over at Finn simply. When the quarterback nodded his assent, “Yeah everyone knows that place. It makes my sister cry, dude.”
“It wasn’t always like that,” pointed out Finn simply, “A long time ago it was this really kick ass place. Something that people didn’t call an eyesore. And there was this family right? Mom, Dad, son lived in the house for years. Kid grew up, went to school, and became a teacher in Lima.”
“Yeah?” asked Puck rolling over in the grass. He stared up at Finn with curious eyes. Finn grinned down and began to gesture his hands as he talked. The weaving motions added to the story as he used words to tell what was in his mind and bring it from the world.
“Oh yeah. He was really good at his job. But he had this girlfriend.”
“It always gets back to a girl,” said Puck simply.
“Don’t I fuckin’ know it,” pointed out Finn good-naturedly.
“Shut up you stallion. Don’t expect to go gay for you because everyone else is.”
“Fuck you, man. Do you want me to finish it or not?”
“Sorry enrich my mind, oh great storyteller.”
“Okay so these two were head over heels at first: music, laughter, all lovey dovey shit that happens in the beginning of these tragic affairs. Well the longer they were together; the more the guy noticed how much his girl had changed. He just wanted a simple life because he really didn’t need much to be happy. His girlfriend wanted fame, money, things that her man didn’t want. He realized that they weren’t clicking all that well anymore. So he broke it off.”
“Oh player!” said Puck stretching out, “At least he didn’t get dumped because of his credit score.”
“That was just cold of Santana man.”
Puck shrugged, “Whatever. I’m fixing it. It’ll be so fuckin’ amazing that she’ll want to marry it. But I’ll be like no way bitch because my credit score is one fine piece of nonexistent cash.”
Finn snorted. His best friend was a little…odd would be the polite term, bat shit insane would be the impolite one.
“Yeah well so the girlfriend was a bit pissed. So she went to her sister who hooked her up with this magic person. Magic person gave crazy ex a potion. Crazy ex spiked the dude’s drink.”
“Yeah? What happened to him?”
“Some say that it was a love potion and they got back together.”
“God I hope not.”
“Same here. Others say that it killed him and she killed herself. Romeo and Juliet deal.”
“Oh well that’s a fun to spend a Saturday night,” said Puck in a dry monotone.
“Can’t imagine a better way,” joked Finn back, “My favorite is the last one. It said it turned the guy into a monster. So he sings at night hoping to lure young virgins into his house and they try to break the spell.”
“Yeah? How? True love’s kiss?”
“Nope true love’s blow job.”
“FUCK YEAH!” shouted Puck, “My kind of monster! The beast with two backs!”
“Bad joke dude.”
“Fuck you. I’ll have you know that I’m a master wordsmith.”
“Whatever helps you get to sleep at night.”
“Go to Hell, Hudson.”
“That’s a step up from Lima.”
“Touché, Finn, touché.”
“I try my best.”
They sat in silence. There was no need to fill the air with useless chatter that seemed to be the custom for their peers and girlfriends. They stared up at the sky sitting on Puck’s beat up truck.
“Truth or Dare?” asked Puck with a shit eating grin. His dark eyes flashed in the moonlight making him seemed to live up to his nickname of the mischievous fairy from Shakespeare. (Not that Finn would ever tell anyone that he willing read Shakespeare. He had a reputation to uphold.)
“Dare,” said Finn easily. His eyes glanced at his friend ready for any challenge thrown his way. Puck grinned wider in the darkness. Finn didn’t like the look of that grin.
“I dare you to go into the old house on Oak Street.”
Yep, he definitely did not like that smile. Damn him for telling Puck that story, he could really be stupid sometimes. He sighed and looked at his friend.
“If I get eaten you’re the one who has to tell my mom.”
“Deal,” said Puck climbing into the cab of his truck.
Sometimes Finn really wonders about the mental state of the people that he knows.
“One chance is all you need.” -Jesse Owens
Will heard the truck barreling down the block before he even saw the headlights. He sighed. Was there seriously nothing more interesting to do then breaking and entering?
He paused seriously thinking about it. He remembered his own high school days before sighing in defeat.
Being the kind beast that he was, he let out some cookies and hot cocoa for the would-be intruder. He then wandered upstairs to visit the music room. He was getting pretty decent at playing the guitar with claws, if he did say so himself.
Truthfully, he really didn’t mind the intruders at this point. He had no company in years except the computer and his music collection. It passed the days by in a slightly dull blur. So the occasional felonious acts were something to spice his life.
Yes, he is aware how sad that is. He never said that he was a proud beast. He was lonely one though, so he could not be faulted at this point in time. He clacks his claws on the key to the piano. Bored enough he began to pound out a tune. Closing his eyes, he allowed the music to wash over him, become a part of him.
“All you need is love…
All you need is love…
Love is all you need,” crooned the beast to nonexistent people. The one thing that he kept in his horrible transformation was his voice. If he closed his eyes then he could pretend that he was normal. He could make himself believe that this was some sort of terrible, distant dream. He gently tapped out the song singing along. His voice filled the house.
Then he heard a shy but strong voice sing, “Love, love, love….”
He stopped in his seat glad that the shadows hid his jumping when he heard the voice. Turning as to not to frighten the kid, he saw a tall youth standing in the doorway. His outline filled the doorway and his brown eyes caught were glittering mischievously in the silver moonlight.
“You know if you listen to the Beatles’ there really is no way you’re defiling virgins,” said the teenager simply with a shy grin.
He honestly did not know how to answer that. What were people saying about him?
Part Two