Just some late night 3 in the morning Puckleberry oneshots for you. I own nothing. Not even this sentence.
He doesn't know how he'd ended up here. Here in Rachel Berry's bed, watching her sleep. They weren't in a relationship or anything. She wasn't his girlfriend. He wasn't her boyfriend. They weren't in love. And this is definitely not the first time this happened. They've hooked up, had casual sex, booty calls, whatever you wanna call it. This scene. The scene where she's lying on her side with the blanket up to her waist, covering her boy shorts but definitely not covering her bare stomach or sports bra that she usually puts on afterwards. This scene where he's in bed with her, shirt off, shorts on, arm around her waist, synchronizing his breathing into hers. This scene was what happened every time, but not this time. This time, he's lying on his side, watching her. He can't do it anymore. He can't touch her knowing what he's discovered. She's lying on her back because they aren't spooning, sound asleep, beautiful as always. But there, on her stomach, exposed by the moonlight shining into the room, are the reasons that cause him pain. He hesitantly brings his arm out and extends his fingers over her stomach. He carefully traces the lines that formed in the form of fresh cuts that scarred her perfect abdomen, causing her to wince lightly in her sleep. Even in her sleep, she felt pain. This was not right. Rachel Berry was annoying as hell but no one, especially Rachel Berry, deserved this. He couldn't even begin to imagine the intensity of the emotional turmoil this girl had felt to bring herself to self-mutilate perfect, iridescent skin. This isn't the scene where he'd just found out about it. It isn't his first time noticing them, but this is going to be his last time not doing anything about it. He wraps his whole arm around her, covering the lines of her abdomen with his forearm, wishing it was that simple to remove. She cuddles into him and breathes deeply. They weren't in a relationship or anything. She isn't his girlfriend. He isn't her boyfriend. But here he is now, in love. And he's not going to sit idly by about it.