I don't own Glee.
The tiny brunette sat on the ground and leaned against the wall of the choir room. Tears were streaming down her face but she didn't bother wiping them away. Her shoulders shook with the force of her silent sobs and her hands were clutched together tightly.
"Rachel?" She heard a voice ask and she looked up in fear before remembering her current state and switched to being embarrassed.
"Hey Artie."
The boy in the wheelchair rolled forward until he was right in front of her and looked down at the small girl, concern clearly written on his face.
"What's wrong?" He asked, taking in her red eyes, teary face, and hair pulled carelessly into a bun at the side of her head.
Rachel ignored the question and stood up, brushing imaginary dirt off her jeans. That also worried Artie. Usually she wore skirts and cardigans, now she was in a faded grey sweatshirt and dark blue jeans with holes in the knees.
"I'm sorry, Artie, did you need the practice room? I'll just go somewhere else. I didn't mean to disturb you," She said quietly walking past him.
Artie reached out and grabbed her hand, causing her to stop.
"Rachel, talk to me. I've never seen you cry before. And frankly, I'm a little worried. Come on, you can trust me," He told her, lacing his fingers with hers as she turned back towards him. Tears were falling again, and she reached up a hand to brush some away.
"Finn cheated on me. And everyone hates me. My dads are never home and Shelby didn't want me. I just… I want someone to care. I don't know why I'm never good enough." More tears rolled down her cheeks as her voice got louder.
Suddenly, her eyes darkened and she looked at him in fear, "I'm sorry, Artie. I have to go. I just remembered I have to do something."
Artie tightened his grip on her hand and tugged as she tried to leave. The force caused her to trip and land on his lap. Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her to him. Somehow the loving gesture caused something in her to break and she started to sob, clutching his shirt and burying her face in his neck. He stroked her hair and rubbed soothing circles on her back while she cried.
Eventually, her sobs subsided to occasional sniffles, but she made no move to change her position.
"Rach, you are one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Sure, sometimes you get a little overbearing, but so does everybody else. We all have our flaws and sometimes people don't accept them. But we all care about you. Glee club wouldn't exist without you. It would have fallen apart a long time ago. We all love you. You are the glue that keeps us together. You defend everyone, no matter how mean they are to you. Finn is an idiot. To be honest, I don't recognize you when you're with him. You change yourself to try to please him and you don't need to. Your dads and Shelby don't know what they are missing. And you are amazing. They are the ones that need to change. You are the only one besides Tina who realized that it meant a lot to me to ride to sectionals with you guys. Don't change yourself because you are perfect just the way you are. Rach, you're special. Don't forget that," Artie finished with a smile as he looked at her with soft eyes. She grinned back and wrapped her arms around his chest. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"Thanks, Artie," She whispered before standing up off his lap and sitting down on a seat in the front row. It was almost time for glee. He rolled next to her and told her the story of his date with Tina from the previous night. By the time the glee club started entering the room, they were both holding their sides and laughing. They got some curious looks, but just smiled in return.
Her laughter suddenly died as Finn walked in with a smirk on his face. She could feel the start of tears returning and then she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and she looked at Artie, taking in his concerned expression and gentle smile.
Finn walked to the front of the room after telling Mr. Schue that he had something to say. Getting a nod back, his smirk widened and he looked around the room before speaking.
"I just wanted to say that I think we should kick Rachel out of glee. She doesn't do anything for us and I have realized that she's a selfish brat. I dumped her. You don't have to pretend to like her anymore to keep me happy," He said, grinning at them as though he was proud of himself.
Artie felt Rachel freeze before her shoulders started to shake with the force of her sobs. They were silent, but he felt his heart break for the tiny girl beside him. His arm tightened as he brought her closer and kissed her temple softly. He heard the gasps of shock echo through the choir room as Mr. Schue stood there with a look of panic crossing his features. Suddenly, chaos erupted.
A slap echoed throughout the room and Finn clutched his cheek as Santana glared at him with her fists clenched.
"Listen here, Finnocence, Rach is a better person than you will ever be and you need to back off before I go all Lima Heights on your pathetic self." She shouted before kicking him in the shin and walking over to her best friend.
"Are you okay, Rachie?" Brittany asked, hugging Rachel sweetly.
"I'm okay, Britt. Thanks ,Tana." She replied with a small smile. Puck and Mike stood up and walked over to Finn, glaring at him.
Puck cracked his knuckles as Mike crossed his arms over his chest menacingly, "We all love Rach. She's a sweetheart who would do anything for you. And you treat her like crap. What did you do this time, huh? How did you finally break her?"
"He's a cheater," Artie piped up, glaring at the tall quarterback. He rolled over to Puck and Mike, allowing Santana to take his place of comforting Rachel. The cheerio wrapped her arms around the tiny singer and rocked back and forth while Brittany played with her hair.
Finn sneered at the club, "Why do you care all of the sudden? This is Rachel Berry! The girl no one likes. The girl that everyone hates and slushies on a daily basis. None of you can stand her! And besides, if she would have been a better girlfriend, I wouldn't have had to go look for pleasure elsewhere."
"Aw heck to the no! White boy better not be talking bout my girl like that!" Mercedes yelled, getting to her feet while threatening to cut him, Kurt quickly standing up also.
"Look, Frankenteen, Rachel was the perfect girlfriend. My Diva did nothing but cater to your every wish. And you treated her like crap. She deserves to be happy and you never gave her that. Stop putting her down. She didn't do anything wrong. If anyone was wrong, it was you," Kurt stated, placing his hands on his hips and looking up at Finn in disgust. He crossed the room to Rachel and hugged her before walking back to Finn and daintily leaving a perfect red handprint on the other side of his face to match Santana's.
"Finn," Quinn started sweetly, walking over to the group in front of the piano, "Who did you cheat on Rachel with?"
He grinned at his ex-girlfriend and replied, "That redhead on the Cheerios. Lacey Smith, I think. Why?"
She smiled at him before punching him in the nose and turning around to look at the other two glee-cheerios, "San, Brit, you want to come help me deal Lacey?" They both nodded and with final hugs to Rachel, they linked pinkies and were out of the room.
Sam and Matt, who had transferred back, both wrapped their arms around Rachel and whispered that it would be okay before joining Puck and Mike by the piano. By now, Finn was getting scared. And Mr. Schue had gone to get Ms. Pillsbury with a last panicked glance at the teenagers.
The rest of the group was brought out of their yelling when they heard frantic short breaths from Rachel as she struggled to get air into her lungs. She clutched her throat as her face took on a white tint.
Tina ran over to the crying girl and cupped the diva's face in her hands, "Rach, sweetie, I need you to stop crying, okay? Take a deep breath. Come on, honey, breathe with me. You're having a panic attack. You need to calm down. Ssh, its only me. You're safe. I need you to breathe. Come on, Rach, breathe."
Puck rushed towards the midget diva and stroked her hair as she calmed down. He kissed her head and held her close, breathing a sigh of relief. Tina stepped back and leaned into Artie's embrace, worry coating both of their features. The rest of the group was still huddled around a bleeding Finn as he cursed at them.
"Noah," Rachel whimpered, shivering as she burrowed into his chest. Matt quickly shook off his jacket and wrapped it around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he did so. He knelt beside her and rubbed her back slowly.
"'I'm here, babe." Puck answered tightening his arms around her. He brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled down at her as she curled into him. Suddenly, his phone rang and he looked at Sam with a question in his eyes. The blond nodded and sat down next to him as Puck transferred the shivering girl to his lap. Sam hugged her lightly as Puck stood up and retrieved his phone from his pocket. He heard arguing before the teen turned to the group sadly.
"Ma wants me home. I'm sorry, babe. I'll call you later. I have to watch my sister while she goes to work," He informed them, giving Rachel one last kiss on the head and sprinting out the door, glaring at Finn on the way out.
Finn, seeing that he was severely outnumbered, ran out the door in the opposite direction as the angry boy with a Mohawk.
It was silent except for Rachel's occasional sniffle and Sam's soothing words. The group all gathered around the tiny singer protectively, showing their support. She looked up at them, and a small frown crossed her lips.
"Why are you all being so nice? I thought you hated me?" She questioned softly.
The three cheerios walked into the room and having heard her question began to explain at once. Soon, everyone was talking over one another. Eventually, Santana's voice rose over the rest and everyone quieted to listen.
"Rach, you may irritate the heck out of us sometimes. But so do I. So does everyone in here. And we are the only ones allowed to tease you about it. You're our family. We are a family. We all love you, baby girl, and you can't get rid of us. Finderella was out of line and now he's out of the family. And once you're out, you're out," She shrugged and took Rachel's hand with a grin. Everyone nodded in agreement and Artie winked at Rachel, causing her to laugh.
Once the giggling died down, Rachel turned to the group with a shy smile, "Would you like to have a glee sleepover? I just don't want to be alone right now…"
Mike smiled at the girl, "Of course, Rach. That'd be awesome." After getting various sounds of agreement from the rest of the group and texting Puck to let him know of their plans, they broke into groups to leave the room. Soon, it was just Sam, Quinn, Artie, Santana, Mike, Brittany and Matt. They all turned to look at Rachel.
Matt wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "We will be over in a couple hours. Call me if you need me. I love you, baby."
"Bye Matty," She replied with a smile. Rachel turned to Mike and hugged him, "Bye Mikey. I love you both. Get San and Britt home safe please." She turned towards the two best friends and wrapped them in a hug. She felt Brittany kiss her head as they parted.
Santana cupped her face, "Don't do anything stupid. We love you. And Finnocence is a douche. You're better than him, baby girl." She linked pinkies with Britt and held Mike's hand on her other side with Matt on Brittany's and they were gone.
Quinn stepped forward with watery eyes, "I am so sorry, Rach. I haven't always treated you the best, but I really do love you. You're one of the best people in here." She hugged the tiny brunette and wiped a tear from her eye, muttering about allergies.
Rachel laughed and looked at Sam. He grinned before wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her around as she giggled. "Rach, I love you. Be careful getting home. Quinn and I will be at your house later with food. We'll pick up Kurt and Mercedes on the way."
"I love you guys. You are so sweet. Be safe. Bye Sammy. Bye Quinn," She waved to them and they interlaced their hands and left.
The diva turned to her last companion with a smile. She walked behind him and gripped the wheelchair, pushing it forward.
"Thanks, Rach. I told you they love you. Do you need a ride home?" Artie asked, twisting around slightly to look at her.
"That would be great, Artie. Thank you. And it's no problem. We can go to your house first and then you can come with me and help me set up for the sleepover if you want," Rachel replied.
"I would love to," He grinned at her.
And they waited outside until his dad arrived, laughter echoing through the empty parking lot.
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