One-Shot Rachel Dies

by TheRobin2000

Rachel has been bullied, harassed and abused ever since she became pregnant with Finn's baby. After one final piece of abuse one night, she decides to end it all. Warning: Major Character Death.

One shot Rachel Dies

Plot: Rachel has been abused, harassed ever since she became pregnant with Finn's baby. One day the emotions become too great that she decides to end it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that are in Glee, they belong to Ryan Murphy. Christopher Hudson (Finn and Rachel's Baby) is owned by me.

Finn's POV.

I come into school feeling completely heartbroken. I went home last night after picking Chris (their son) up from Rachel's house because Rachel said that she was going out for an evening run which she does most Wednesday nights anyway. After all, Glee doesn't run on Wednesday's because of all the sports teams and cheerleader practises are that night. After I put Chris to sleep, I do my homework which takes an hour and a half. I just finish it and am thinking about what to sing for Glee tomorrow when the phone rang.

Policeman: "Hello, is this Finn Hudson?"

Finn: "Yes?"

Policeman: "This is Ohio Police. We need you to come to the hospital. Your girlfriend Rachel Berry was found unconscious at her house around 6pm this evening. She was found lying on her bed with a bloody head and damaged wrists. We found a knife, a few bottles of alcohol and a couple of pill bottles. We think that she has attempted to commit suicide by damage."

Finn: (Breaking up), "What do I do?"

Policeman: "The doctors have put her into a bed; she is in a critical condition." It becomes clear that the policeman is starting to cry. "There is a high chance that she won't survive the night. Come quickly to the hospital."

Finn: Yes cop, I will come now."

I wake up Chris because I don't want to have to wake him up to tell him that his mum is dead. That would be too hard for me. I come downstairs and see Mom, Burt and Kurt just finishing eating dinner (I ate with Chris because of the work I needed to do), they all look at me and their expressions say that I look like I have just seen a ghost.

Kurt is the first to answer, "Finn, what is wrong?"

I barely get out "It is Rachel. She is in the hospital. I have been told to go there because she might not survive the night."

Kurt is starting to cry, he and Rachel have been friends for years. They both have a passion for Broadway, Funny Girl and New York. Our plan was to buy an apartment in New York where they can try and get into NYADA and me to try to become an professional American Football Player or a teacher. I know very different career aspirations but hey that is who I am.

Well those were the plans until tonight. I was hoping to take Rachel out on Friday for a date and propose to her. Only Kurt knows that and he agrees with me. He has been my rock ever since our parents got married, this summer. He has been rooting for us since then, perhaps even before.

Burt (to his credit) decides to drive us up to the hospital after seeing that neither me nor Kurt were in a fit state to drive. We explain to Burt and Mom that Rachel had never been the most popular in the Glee Club because of her confidence and determination to stand out. It is one of the characteristics that make me love her. She is so talented but she works so hard that she deserves all the lead roles that she gets because of this work.

Kurt explained that most of the verbal abuse that Rachel gets comes from Quinn and Santana. This is because of jealously. Quinn was my ex-girlfriend from 10th Grade two years ago. She became pregnant at 15 and claimed to be carrying my child even though I hadn't slept with her. She kept this lie for 2 months until Rachel found out about who the father was and told me that it was Noah Puckerman. I went all psychic on him and questioned Quinn on the spot to admit to what Rachel had told me. The answer was of course; true that Puck was the father. The baby was adopted by Shelby Corcoran who is Rachel's mum and disowned her as a baby.

Santana was different. She has a good voice but didn't have the work ethic that Rachel had and so was jealous that she wasn't landing the roles at Glee. She also was known to be a heartbreaker and a slut because she had dated almost all of the guys including me which I look back on and think how stupid was I to date her. At the time, Rachel was taken and Quinn had broken my heart so I needed someone to rebound with. But that isn't my concern at this point; I have to think about Rachel.

Rachel. At that moment, I realise what one word, one name could mean to someone. I look at Chris in the middle of myself and Kurt and think 'what am I going to do with him if she's dead.' The policeman also said physical abuse, I am about to cry because I know that I have failed to protect her.

We arrive at the hospital around about 8:30pm. Burt parks up and we go into the hospital. Kurt gets to the check-in desk first and informs the receptionist that we are here for Rachel. The receptionist calls the doctor in her room and tells us that we can go up to room 187. We go up there and are shocked by what we see there.

Rachel is lying on her bed. There are a number of wires that are connected up towards her and a heart monitor which is reading her heart rate. Her face is bloody and she is wearing an oxygen mask. I start to cry and hold Chris tighter as if he is my only hope at living.

The Doctor explains that the physical and verbal abuse has happened since the beginning of January when it became clear that Rachel was pregnant with my child. She had begun to get harassed by a load of boys at school when she was alone because of the fact that she was pregnant. They called her every name under the sun because of her situation.

I had realised that she did have bruises on her arms and under her eyes but I could never get the full reason why she had those bruises. She batted them off as injuries sustained in Glee. I found out that she had been hit and slapped whilst at school because she was worthless according to many members of school.

The final straw for Rachel was tonight when she went out running; she was attacked and raped by two of our classmates. DNA records showed that it was Jesse St James and Noah Puckerman. Of all people why does it have to be them? Puck was my best-friend until Quinn's baby-gate and now he might have played a part in Rachel's death. Jesse, I have never liked. He's an arrogant punk and is Rachel's ex-boyfriend. He was apparently set up by Rachel's mum who worked as the coach of Vocal Adrenaline in which he sung with. He has been a thorn in her side ever since and she felt scared being around him. That shows her relationship with her mother.

Mom is on the phone to Rachel's fathers who are on their way. When they arrive, it becomes clear that they too have been crying judging by their faces. As the night draws on, her heart monitor continues to drop and it becomes clear that she is getting weaker. That is when the doctor tells us that she isn't going to make it. She is going to die tonight.

My first thought is that of anger. Anger at everyone who made her feel like the way she felt. I was angry at myself for not stopping and confronting it when I had the chance, my anger because I was the one who got her pregnant and now would have to raise Chris on my own. I had anger because someone so beautiful, so talented and so loved was being taken before her time and there were so many questions that came with that. I was snapped out of my mind when the doctor handed me a letter.

The letter was from Rachel and it said not to open until she was dead. I just kneel down next to her bed and tell her for the last time I loved her. "Rachel Berry, you are a star. You have achieved so much and have accepted me for who I am. You ignored my flaws and took me for the person that I have become and helped me grow up. You gave me our son, I will try my best to raise it as best as I can, knowing that you'll be looking down on us guiding us through each day. You have given so many performances and dreams that I couldn't have imagined. I would have asked you at a better time and place for your hand in marriage but please tell me that you would have accepted it please?"

I see a small nod and I smile and I know that would have been a yes. I get the ring out of the little black box and place it on her finger. A simple gesture but one that shows everyone the power of mine and her undying love for each other.

I step back and take Chris back from Kurt's hands and everyone else begins to have their last conversion with Rachel. Kurt talks about all the times that they would sit and watch Broadway movies at sleepovers; he said that he will achieve his dreams of making it as an actor on Broadway in her memory. Her dad's told her that they love her in everything that she has done for them. They tell her that she is the most important thing in their lives and the most special as well.

When Mom speaks, she tells Rachel that she is the best thing that has happened to me and finally found a purpose for me. She was so happy that she was able to call herself a grandma and that she will try her best to help me raise our child to the best of our abilities. The last thing that she says to her is that she was the perfect person to become her daughter in law.

I am crying uncontrollably now as we all kneel next to her bed to be with her in her last moments. I get up and give her one last kiss before the beep on the monitor confirms that it is the end. Rachel Barbara Berry is dead at the tender age of 17. The doctor allows us to remain the night; after all it is now 4 in the morning. There is a shower and we did bring some clothes with us so we can change into when we go to school in the morning.

In the morning, the coroner arrives and asks us to leave because they will work out the cause of the death. They say that they will bring the body and the coffin over later today for us to get ready for the funeral whenever that will be. Burt takes us to school with Chris in the middle of us. He is working from home today because of paperwork that can't be carried out at the office. I think it is also a way for him to grieve with mom and Chris over the loss of Rachel.

We get to school early with our books for the day. It's Thursday so we have Glee this morning which is serious because we are getting ready for the Christmas performances at school. However, I don't feel like singing today after the events of tonight.

Kurt and I go into the Glee room and see that Mr Schue is already in there. He is clearly writing some ideas for Regionals and Nationals in the New Year. He looks up and sees us two in tears and he asks us to come over.

Mr Schue: "(Concerned) Kurt and Finn, what is wrong?"

Kurt: "It is about Rachel-"

Mr Schue: "(Interrupts) I saw that Rachel wasn't with you. Finn what is going on?"

Finn: "Mr Schue, um Rachel hasn't been doing well recently. She has been abused for the past year after she found out she was pregnant with Chris. She has been abused and harassed by her peers. She has been verbally abused by people in Glee, behind your back most notably by Quinn and Santana."

Mr Schue: "I suspected much, I tried to ask her about the bruises and the comments that she was getting. But she wouldn't tell me."

Finn: "Both me and Kurt tried as well when we at home, but she wouldn't tell us. But the final straw was when she went out running yesterday, she was raped-"

Mr Schue: "(Shocked) By whom."

Kurt: "By Puck and Jesse."

Mr Schue: "(Angry) Puck will have some explaining to do today."

Finn: "(Starts to cry) I got a call around 8 last night that she had attempted to commit suicide. There was a knife, some bottles of alcohol and some bottles of pills. We were told to go to the hospital when we found her and it became clear that she wasn't going to survive and she died around 4 this morning."

Mr Schue: "(Crying also) She was just 17. She had the best voice in the Glee club. How did she fall into such a state? Finn, she gave birth to your child, how are you going to look after your son on your own? Do you need any help?"

Finn: (Stares at the floor), I don't know what I'll do. I have Burt, Kurt and mom. But what will be difficult when Chris is old enough and sees other kids with their moms and dads and telling him that his mom is dead. It is hard thinking about how he will never remember his mom when she brought him into the world. Mr Schue, is it ok if I read this letter to Glee this morning?"

Mr Schue: "Ok. Who is it from?"

Finn: "Rachel, the doctor said not to read it until she was dead. Do you want to read it before the class arrive?"

Mr Schue: Ok. (Takes it and reads it. After reading it he pulls Finn into a hug and then Kurt into one.) Are you sure you will be ok?"

Kurt and Finn; "(Together), we'll have to be." (Bell rings)

(The rest of the Glee kids come in. Emma is also present.)

Mr Schue: "Is that everyone? Ok, let's get started."

Puck: "Hey where's Rachel?"

Quinn: "I know. Thought she'll be first in, wanting all the leads and stuff."

Kurt: "(Coughs) Enough!"

Mr Schue: "(Stern) Thank you Kurt. Puck, Quinn, Santana. I'll see you in the Principal's office later on."

All three together: "What! Why?"

Mr Schue: "You know why. You're asking about Rachel. Well, (looks at me and Kurt and we both nod for him to continue) Rachel is dead."

Mercedes: "(Shocked) How!"

Mr Schue: "Suicide."

Finn: "The coroner will confirm what killed her later today. We suspect it was because she slit her wrists and poisoned herself with alcohol. She died around 4 this morning. (Begins to cry again)"

The rest of Glee is silent.

Finn: "The doctor gave me a letter from her. Mr Schue said it was fine for me to read it to the Glee club. Is it ok if I do it now Mr Schue?"

Mr Schue: "Of course Finn."

Finn: (Gets up and begins to read.)

"Dear Finn

If you are reading this, it is because I have gone through with it. I couldn't take the beatings, the bullying, and the abuse that was coming my way. I know that I should have talked to you about it but I always ran away. Today was the final straw; I couldn't go back to you with the humiliation that I felt after the rape. I am worthless, I'm a slut and it is best for everyone that I leave. I could tell that you had marriage on your mind, I would have accepted because of the love you showed me. I would have been the most blushing bride on our wedding day and would hope to be your perfect wife. The 9 months when I carried our son were the most precious and happiest moments of my life, more so then winning any competition with Glee. I found something that was important and gave me a purpose in my life. You were the first boy who made me feel loved and sexy and visible. You are my first love and you were my last. Finn, please find someone even if it just to be a mom for Chris. Show her the love that you showed me and hope that you have the wonderful future which I couldn't give you.

Your girlfriend.

Rachel Berry. xxx.

I break down when I finish reading the letter. Someone comes up and hugs me and I look down and see of all of Glee, it is Tina. She is in tears and stands on her tip-toes and whispers something in my ear.

Tina: "I'm so sorry. You deserve so much more."

Finn: "(Weak Smile.) Thank You. (Addresses everyone). Rachel would want us to perform at her funeral. Is it ok if we do?"

Mr Schue: "Absolutely. What songs would everyone want to perform?"

Artie: "How about Seasons of Love?"

Sam: "Definitely. What about If I Die Young?"

Mercedes: "How about the Greatest Star? After all that was what Rachel would have become?"

Finn: "Yes to all three. I would like to sing I'll Stand By You and To Make You Feel My Love."

Mr Schue: "That is great guys." (Bell Rings). "Ok, class dismissed for break. Puck, Quinn, Santana. Principal's Office now!"

Quinn, Puck, Santana: "Uh, fine."

At Principal Figgins Office. (Now Mr Schue's POV.)

Mr Schue: "You all know why you are here. Explain yourselves!"

Quinn: "I know. I hated the fact that she was so popular. She had Finn, I was jealous. She kept having these school-girl fantasises way of life. I was trying to get her to snap out of it. I didn't know that it would come to this. I liked her as a singer but my jealous heart got in the way of having a friendship with her. I was a right bitch to her."

I sigh. Mr Schue: " Quinn, go back to the hall. Santana?"

Quinn leaves.

Santana: "She was a horrible person. She was jealous whenever someone else had the lead in a performance. She dressed horribly and never trusted me at all. That said, she was a talent which I disliked her for having. She was stupid for getting herself knocked up though. What happened to the brat anyway?"

I start to get angry and shout. "That's enough! She's dead, never coming back and you still aren't going to be kind and show remorse. If Finn was here, he would have slapped you by now and I would have stood by him. Don't come back to Glee for the rest of the day, Santana."

Santana: "Fine. (Leaves)."

Mr Schue: "Puck."

Puck: "Yes Mr Schue?"

Mr Schue: "I know what happened between you and Rachel last night."

Puck: "How do you know it was me?"

Mr Schue: "(Sarcastically) So you admit it?"

Puck: "Who told you?

Mr Schue: "Kurt. DNA records confirmed this."

Puck: "I was aggressive. Rachel has been a great girl to me over the years. Since we are both Jewish, I would have never attacked her in a normal sense. But I had been angry about this and that so I went out and met Jesse. We had something to drink which made me irrational and got in a fight with a couple of guys. After that, we saw a covered girl and pinned her up against the wall and raped her. It was only when I heard her scream when I realised it was Rachel. Hearing that in the Glee Club this morning made me realise how stupid I was and I will go throughout the rest of my life knowing that I'm the reason why she isn't with us." (Starts to cry in my arms.)

Mr Schue: "At least you are honest."

Puck: "Mr Schue. Is it ok if I don't come to Glee, later today? I don't think it is right for me to be there with Finn and Kurt."

Mr Schue: "Ok."

Puck leaves.

Finn's POV. (Back in the Glee Room).

I'm just sitting there in my chair, crying my eyes out. Kurt, Tina, Sam, Artie and Mercedes are all sitting by me trying to comfort me but all I can think of is Rachel holding Chris just after he was born. I show the picture to the group on my phone.

Finn: "That is the only picture that I have of the 3 of us."

Tina: "(Choked Up). She looked so beautiful. Radiant even, she had so much love for you and him."

Sam: "All I think about is what made her do it? What could I have done to help?"

Artie: "I think we all do. I mean it isn't like she had been terminally diagnosed with cancer and that was what took her. It was because she couldn't stand living. The single question is why?"

Mercedes: "It just what would I do if a 17 year old friend was to die. She was so young, she had her whole life ahead of her and now she is gone. We should have been better friends to her."

Kurt: "I know. It is only once you've lost something that you realise what you had. We should be singing at her wedding, not her funeral."

Artie: "What wedding? (Shocked)"

Finn: "Yes, I was going to take her out tomorrow and propose to her. Then marry after graduation."

Sam: That would have been sweet."

Tina: "I had spoken to her recently, she would have said yes."

Mike: "(Walking in, hearing their conversion.) Tina's right, what you had was true love. Finn, you can count on us to help you through this process."

Finn: "Thanks guys, but what about you? You have all lost a friend-"

Mercedes: "You've lost your person. Your son's mother. The woman you love. Someone who was part of your life. You have to get up and look after your son, knowing that she can't help you and you'll have to tell your son eventually what happened. (Brings Finn into a hug.) Don't worry about us Finn. We are here to help."

Finn: "Thanks Mercedes. Thank all of you." (Bell Rings)

Mr Schue: "(Returns with Emma.) Ok, guys. We aren't going to sing any of our normal songs today; I just want you to come up and sing songs that remind you of Rachel."

Kurt: "(Raises his hand.) Mr Schue, I go first. (Gets up and sings This Time.)

Tina: (Goes next and sings Roots Before Branches)

Blaine and Mercedes: (Next up and sing Don't You Want Me?"

Artie: (Sings Get It Right.)

Quinn: (Sings Fly)

Mike: (Sings The Climb)

Sam: (Sings Hero)

Brittany: (Sings A Love Song)

Finn: (Last Up) "Everybody, this is the song that I sung with Rachel when I said I loved her. (Sings Faithfully.) That would have been the song that she would have come down the aisle to."

Emma: "Says can I sing a song please Finn?"

Finn: "Of Course."

Emma: (Sings I Look To You)

Finn: "Thank you. (To Mr Schue). Is it ok, if I leave now."

Mr Schue: "No problem Finn. You need to be with your family. But how are you going to get home."

Kurt: "I'll take him, Mr Schue. (They leave.)"

Back home.

We get home and find that Mom, Burt and Rachel's parents Leroy and Hiram Berry and Shelby Corcoran with the coroner. Everyone is in tears. The coroner explained that it was a drug overdose that killed her. It got into her brain and heart and gradually shut them down. I just get cold and run upstairs to my bedroom and just burst into tears and fall asleep.

About an hour later, Kurt came in and said that dinner was on the table. I told him, I wasn't hungry to which he came up to me and sat down.

Kurt: "Would Rachel want you to be like this?"

Finn: "If she was here, I wouldn't be like this?"

Kurt: "You need to do this Finn. She would have wanted you to be strong for Chris. Be the best father for him, if only for her memory."

Finn: "It is just that I can hear her voice so clearly. I would have got a teaching degree and she would have made onto Broadway. Then one day, when I'm teaching at McKinley after a successful football career, she'll come into the school and say 'I'm home' then we would have lived happily ever after. It is that you could give me all the money, fame, success and Super Bowls. But if you offered me that against Rachel coming in through that door straight into my arms, I would always pick the latter."

Kurt: "I know. Come down to dinner please Finn."

Finn: "Ok."

(A few days later on Christmas Eve, Rachel's Funeral.)

Finn: (Can't get out his performance with Rachel of Last Christmas the previous year out of his head and is sobbing.) (To Kurt.) "I still wish she was here."

Kurt: "I know, but we have to remember her. I remember her once, saying 'Does anyone fantasize over their own funeral? I do because then people will realise how wonderful and special I am but it being too late?' You knew she was special, Finn more than anyone, we were all too slow to realise."

Finn: "(Half-smiling.) That's so Rachel though."

Carol: "(Pops her head through the door.) Boys, it is time to go." They both nod and get up.

We travel to the funeral in the official mourning car. The car behind us holds Rachel's coffin. On all four sides and on the top, there is a gold star which was Rachel's trademark. She was a star, my star and now she is gone.

Mr Schue has led the Glee choir who will be singing the songs of the funeral. Instead of traditional funeral songs, we have sung our own songs. As the coffin was brought in, they sung Seasons of Love which we were planning to sing at our graduation in the summer. Principal Figgins took the service as it was only for people from the school that attended the service. He spoke about Rachel's personality, the dreams that she had told him that she had and all the great times he knew of her.

Sam and Mercedes took the leads in the next song which was 'If I Die Young' which was very heartfelt and poignant as Rachel died just after her 17th Birthday. Sam had been a great friend to Rachel through the period of her early pregnancy when I had foolishly ran off with Quinn. Mercedes was an equally talented and powerful singer to Rachel and so was the clear choice for this song. I start to tear up so I look down at my eulogy speech which I was going to speak about. Kurt looks next to me and said that he could go up with me if I struggled to finish the speech and I nodded. The words had to get out somehow.

The reflection of the life of Rachel which is conducted through a piece of music was instead sung live by Tina who performed the Greatest Star. It was a touching gesture because Tina had been great friends with Rachel ever since she had joined the Glee Club. Rachel was the reason that she had joined in the first place. After this, it was time for me and Kurt to go up to the pulpit and deliver the eulogy.

Finn: "(Tries to hold it together.) Everyone who knew Rachel saw her as an ambitious young lady but to me, she was everything. She was talented, driven and independent but still had the heart and feelings to protect those that she loved. It is normal to bury your partner, after all one of you will. But not at this age and in these circumstances. She brought a ray of sunlight to those days when all that it seemed to be was dark clouds. She brought that hope that I needed to realise my dreams of making it as a professional football player. She gave me strength to never stop believing in what you want to achieve and where you can achieve it. I remember in our first Glee rehearsal, she completely freaked me out when we sung 'You're the One that I want.' (Brings laughter from the Glee members.) I remember the moment when we sung together at Regionals for the first time and although we didn't place, we bonded together like we had never done before. I remember when she told me, exactly a year ago that she was carrying my child and (looks up to the sky) I'll try to bring Chris up in a way that we would have done together. And Rachel, you helped me realise my dreams that I will win the Super Bowl for you." (The audience nods.) There are a couple of songs; I want to sing before I go. The first is about what I should have done through the time that she was bullied, the second is what we sang at Regionals that first time. (Sings I'll Stand By You followed by Faithfully.) (Looks up after finishing.) I'll miss you Rach, we were endgame. (Can't take it anymore and cries.)"

Kurt: (Puts his arm around Finn) "I just want to say a few words of my own. Rachel was a great friend and would have made a great sister-in-law. Finn won't mention it but he was planning to propose on Friday as a late birthday/early Christmas gift. (The audience sighs aww.) We had a lot in common, theatre, music and Broadway to name a few. She was a terrific singer and an even better person and mother. We'll miss you Rachel, you were our rising star." (Both step down from the pulpit.)

Rachel's coffin was then taken into the graveyard to be buried. Everyone then had a final moment with her before she was buried into the ground. The gravestone above it read.

Rachel Barbra Berry

18.12.1994-20.12.2011

Cherished Daughter, Mother and Friend.

"Rest In Peace, Our Rising Star."

We all stand there in silence for a couple of minutes before Quinn begins to speak.

Quinn: "I feel awful knowing that she died without me telling her that she was my friend."

I speak up. Finn: "Quinn, you have been here and mourned her like the rest of us. That speaks louder than any words can say."

Mercedes gives Quinn a hug and they all head back to the Hudson/Hummel house for the wake.

(Years later)

No One's POV.

Everyone did their best for the rest of the year to remember Rachel and try to follow their dreams. Rachel's death had opened their eyes to the fact that life is too short and that you only get one shot at it. Both Finn and Kurt get into New York universities. Kurt gets into NYADA to study musical theatre and fashion and Finn into NYU on a football scholarship with a teaching degree on the side.

Kurt marries Blaine after college and gets two jobs working on Broadway as a performer and director but also working for different fashion companies. Finn is signed by the New York Giants at 20 and becomes captain by the age of 23. His leadership skills in the Glee club becoming obvious from a young age with the Giants. After three runner-up finishes, He finally won the Super Bowl at the age of 30, scoring a last-second touchdown to win the game in front of his old friends and mentor, Mr Schue. In his acceptance speech, he announces his retirement to look after his now teenage son but he ends his speech with a tribute to his late son's mother.

Finn: "And lastly before I go, there is one last person, I would like to thank. She is not here but she is the reason why I am here today. She gave me the belief that I can do what I want to do. I made a vow to her that I would win the Super Bowl one day for her at her funeral. I just want to say, (looks up to the sky) Rachel Berry, I love you and thank you and I have it (lifts the trophy again.)"

Finn's POV.

After the celebrations and carrying my son home. I get home and get out the car. I let Chris in and look up to the sky where a single star shines, clearly that is Rachel's star, looking down on me. I lift my Super Bowl Ring up and say "I've done that because you believed in me."

The star shines brighter, as if Rachel accepts and says "If You Say So."

End.