Rachel walked out of Sean Fretthold's house with Finn. Sean told Rachel that she may lose her voice, but she hasn't lost everything. Rachel felt better, but she still felt like she's just going to be a loser for her next high school years since she lost her voice.

It's been a few days since Rachel lost her voice, and nothing has changed. She's still the vocal cripple. She's seen six doctors and took all her antibiotics and nothing seemed to work for her. She knew that if she couldn't sing, she would be nothing. She's just a bossy, whiny Rachel Berry.

Finn promised to take Rachel home, and so he did. Rachel felt alone lately, Jesse was on his spring break and he never called her nor contacted her at all after the whole Run Joey Run debacle. She tried to contact him first, but he won't answer. And Finn's really trying to be a good friend for Rachel.

He's really trying to be a better company than Jesse, if Rachel may say.

"So how are you feeling?" Finn asked.

Rachel looked at Finn for a second, and then looked away. There's something in his eyes that makes Rachel sees something; but Rachel's mind was too hazy to figure out what that was. "Um… I'm fine, thanks." Rachel took a deep breath, and pouted.

Finn smirked. "Good to hear."

While they were on their way to Rachel's place, they refused to talk at all. Finn can't stop looking at Rachel, thinking how much he wants her, thinking about how he could be so much better than her boyfriend who left her just for some video project and going to leave her again when he found out she's a vocal cripple, thinking how much he really cares about her.

They arrived at Rachel's place. Rachel took off her seat belt, grabbed her bag from the back seat, and walked out the car. "Thanks," Rachel whispered.

"Anytime," Finn replied.

Finn went home joyfully. He knew, he got Rachel's attention. He knew he blew her mind; she just wouldn't want to admit it.

Rachel threw her bag at her bed. She felt really bored, only one of her dads is home and he was sleeping. Rachel turned on her laptop and opened her MySpace page quickly. She got new comments for her new video, "Broken Hearted Girl", that she actually uploaded a month ago but she still got negative comments. She only got good comments from Tina and Finn.
Rachel didn't care about it anymore, she's used to it. And then something popped up in her news feed.

"Jesse St. James is enjoying spring break with his friends:) wishing everyone a good day and amazing spring break!"

Jesse updated his status on MySpace. He never told her about how his spring break went, he didn't even tell her he's going; she found out about it on MySpace.

Rachel somehow felt hurt. She wished things could go back the way it was—when she and Jesse were McKinley High's new power couple—but it wouldn't happen anymore. And after she lost her voice—enough said. Rachel decided to turn off her laptop and watch Dear John on DVD.

The problem with time, I've learned, whether it's those first two weeks I got to spend with you, or the final two months I got to spend with him, eventually time always runs out. I have no idea where you are out there in the world, John. But I understand that I lost the right to know these things long ago. No matter how many years go by, I know one thing to be as true as ever was - I'll see you soon then.

Rachel wiped her tears after she saw that scene. She wished she could have someone like John, someone who would stick up to her until the end, someone who would still stay even though she left. But reality hurts. She did nothing, and her boyfriend left her. Life sucks. She was too sleepy to continue the movie, so she decided to turn off the DVD player and drift off to bed.


Rachel entered the choir room as usual, and took a seat. Finn came as soon as she entered and he sat next to her. She knew it; he couldn't stay away from her.

"Um, Rachel… I brought you these." Finn grabbed something from his backpack and handed her a box of herbal tea bags.

"When I had tonsillitis my mom gave me this. It worked like magic. And I knew you need it too, so I brought one when I was on my way home last night. I'm pretty sure it'll work for you too." Finn smiled.

Rachel pouted her lips, put the box inside her bag, and smiled to Finn. "Thanks."

Finn smiled back. Will Schuester entered the room, asking for the glee clubbers to perform. Brittany, Mike, and Matt performed a dance number "Me Against The Music". She had to admit that number they did was good, but yes… no one can pull off any number better than Rachel Berry. Everyone gave a standing ovation for their performance, and the bell rang. Rachel grabbed her bag and walked out. Just then, Will stopped her. "Rachel, will you come and talk to me in my office?"

Rachel nodded, and followed Will to his office.

"Are you feeling better now?" Will asked; he looked worried.

Rachel sighed. "No, not at all… I've seen 6 doctors already and I've been taking medicines but still… they don't seem to work."

Will smirked. "Does Jesse know about this? What did he say?"

Rachel shook her head. She still cares about Jesse, she knows she does. But she's still unsure about her feelings. Jesse hasn't contacted Rachel recently, it's like Jesse moved on by himself. "Probably he's heard about it. I haven't posted anything on MySpace in a few days and he knew me… posting Myspace videos everyday. So he probably noticed from that."

Will smiled. "What if he doesn't?"

Rachel pouted her lips. She knew that anything can happen in any day; including Jesse leaving her for no reason at all. But she's too stressed about her condition, there's nothing that she cared about other than getting her (flawless) voice back. "Mr. Schue, I appreciate your concern but I'm okay, really... can I go now?"

Mr. Schue nodded. "Get well soon, Rachel. I miss you singing already and I'm pretty sure your friends do, too."

"Thanks," Rachel replied, and left his office.

Rachel walked along the hallway full with thoughts on her head. What if Mr. Schue was right? What if Jesse didn't care about me? What if—she stopped pondering after she saw a tall figure standing before her. That tall figure is no other than Finn Hudson.

"Finn, whatever you're doing, stop it."

"Rachel, I don't want to ruin anyone's relationships, including yours. And I know, no matter how I try to win you back, you'll never turn your head away from Jesse. But I just want to return the favour. When you were helping me out with Quinn things, I promised you that I'm going to pay you back somehow. Well, here's my chance to pay you back. You gave me support, and I'm giving you mine. I have to admit, that I really like you, Rachel. I'm yours if you want me. But now that you don't….and you told me we can still be friends… well, as long as I get to be with you, bring it. I'm here if you want me, Rachel. Like… I can give you more herbal teas, or we can try practising your vocals… let me know." Finn walked away quickly.

Rachel couldn't help but smiling. Everything that Finn said reminded her of why she fell in love with him at the first place.


It's been a week since Rachel took her meds, visited doctors, and practising her vocals with Finn. She also earned support from other glee clubbers and she is now feeling better than ever. She kept trying to sing, and it didn't work—but she doesn't want to give up, and she never will.

She remembered what Sean said. She doesn't need to be afraid anymore. Her doctor said she might need to take her tonsils out, but for all she cares. She had a lot of things to be proud of.

Rachel tried to sing Defying Gravity from Wicked—a difficult song that she could pull off beautifully recently. She can sing it better than before, but she still can't hit the high notes like she used to. And she wanted to try again today.

"And you won't bring me down…. Bring me down… oh oh oh oh….."

She did it! She just hit the high notes. It was a personal accomplishment for her. She jumped and danced a little, she was ecstatic about it. She then grabbed her phone and texted Finn.

FINN! I did it! I just hit the high notes in Defying Gravity! I am feeling really elated right now! Ah, I can't wait to start singing again!

Rachel squealed, and screamed. She then updated her MySpace status, saying "Hold on to your hats! Rachel Berry is back!" After a few minutes, Rachel got a text from Finn.

That's awesome! Well, I just had a little talk with a few other gleeks, and they say we're going to perform One – U2… Santana was about to take your lead, but now that your voice is back, so… leads? ;)

Sure! Rachel replied to Finn's text, and went to bed with a huge smile on her face.


The New Directions just finished the One number, and they did it beautifully. They hugged each other at the end of number, and they gave Rachel a handshake. Rachel may annoy the Glee clubbers, but it's no question that they need her, and having Rachel back taking their leads was a bliss. Rachel grinned, and she came up to Finn.

"Hey, Finn…. Uh… I want to thank you. You know, for your endless support. I really appreciated it. It feels good to have a friend who cares." Rachel pulled him in for a hug. "And thank you for introducing me to Sean. I'm going to his house now. I'm going to teach him sing… remember when he said he can sing?" Rachel grinned, and sighed. "Thanks again, Finn."

For Finn, it was a personal accomplishment to help a friend. Finn took Rachel's hand, stopped her. "Wait…" Rachel stopped. Finn pulled her in for a kiss. Finn was gentle; she can feel warmth, love just by the way he breathes. Finn smiled, and walked out from the auditorium.

Quite surprisingly, at that moment, Rachel didn't feel guilty after all. She didn't know what the future holds for her. But she knew that she got a friend to lean on.

Finn Hudson.