He had already left twice. He had played with her heart and she promised never to let it happen again. She would fall asleep so sure of herself and then wake up in the morning and see the pictures and trinkets in the box labeled "Burn". She removed all the things and replaced them in their rightful places around her room. This happened every night.

Rachel Berry had felt the pain of heartbreak too many times for a seventeen year old. She could no longer count on her two hands how many times someone had walked out on her. The first time she had been hurt was when Finn had kissed her, so long ago, on the stage sophomore year. Rachel had set up a picnic on stage so Finn and she could have a drink or two after practicing for glee club. She had spent days planning it all out; what she would say, how he might react. Everything had gone perfectly to plan, until after Finn kissed Rachel, he left, asking her to not tell anyone about the whole thing. Rachel had forgiven Finn and eventually, after the whole Quinn-baby debacle, they went out. Finn soon came to the realization that he just wasn't ready to date Rachel, so he broke up with her. Then, after Jesse, Rachel let herself get caught up in Finn's life once again, promising to herself that this time would be different. Of course it wasn't, Finn dumped Rachel again, right before Christmas of her junior year. Rachel was sick of the heartbreak, sick of singing about her pain when no one would listen. After Christmas, she vowed to protect her heart; to focus more on getting through high school and onto her future without the drama that came with a boyfriend. Maybe she would find someone in New York, someone who could understand her, who she could be with and not worry about abandonment or betrayal.

Her plans didn't turn out too well.

She was a beautiful girl, destined to become one of the most famous actresses of her time. He wanted to be what she needed, the one to hold her when she fell. But he knew that he couldn't be the one to do that. The reason he broke up with her was because he knew that he would never be able to provide for her or be a good father to her children. He thought he would never be a good husband or be able to follow her where ever her dreams took her. But he just couldn't ignore that gnawing feeling in the back of his head that told him, maybe they were meant to be together.

Finn Hudson could remember everyday with Rachel. He could replay them in his memories and wish for her to be there, with him, right then. But then he would open his eyes and see the empty seat next to him, where she used to perch and eagerly listen to Mr. Schuster. When Finn was dating Rachel he would think about the future. It was pretty far-fetched to think about marrying this girl already. Finn had grown up thinking that high school flames burned out pretty quickly and that he would meet "the one" in college or maybe when his career picked up. This was before he had met Rachel Berry. She was so sweet and kind to him. She had never said things she didn't mean, she wouldn't play with his thoughts the way Finn's other ex-girlfriends had done. He would get caught up in the future of him and Rachel and then get slapped back to real life with the fact that that was all fantasy, that was all it ever could be. Rachel needed someone strong, in tune with his emotions, and not afraid to be himself. Finn thought he was none of these things. Right before Christmas, when Rachel had admitted to kissing Puck during one of their relationship breaks, Finn thought it would be the perfect excuse for her to get over him, to find the real boy she needed. He had looked into her eyes and had seen her break with every word he had said, the day Finn broke up with her. It tore Finn to pieces.

Finn wanted to be with Rachel the rest of his life, but he knew she would never, could never, be happy with him. So he resorted to the only thing he could think of. He broke her heart so she would never be able to forgive him, and be able to move on with her beautiful life.

But Finn couldn't help but stare at the gorgeous girl he used to call his whenever she sang in glee club or when she walked past him in the hallway. He couldn't help the hope that he had in his heart; the hope that she could forgive him, and they could be together.

"This sounds like something from Twilight." Blaine Anderson said, cuddled into Rachel's bed pillows as she paced the room.

"Do not compare my love life to a fictional story." She replied, stopping in her tracks to glare at her friend.

Blaine and Rachel had grown close after the past couple of weeks. He was someone that could keep up with Rachel's ambition and understand her feeling for her future. Rachel had never thought of him in the romantic sort of way, though. Kurt Hummel was Rachel's good friend and he was so obviously in love with Blaine, and she supported the couple. She thought that they were perfect for each other.

"I'm sorry; it's just that it sounds a lot like something Edward Cullen would do." Blaine shrugged and resumed flipping through Rachel's Play Bill collection.

Rachel sighed and got lost in her thoughts. How could Finn do this to her again? Did he honestly think that it would be that easy for Rachel to give up and move on with her life? Rachel had been distraught for days after Sectionals, when Finn had told her that he couldn't see her anymore. She had lost all hope and had promised herself that she would never let her heart get hurt ever again, but that turned out to be harder than it looked. She would start thinking about Finn and wish she had the strength to confront him about what he did.

"And besides, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You'll find someone who can take commitment and that can keep up with your hopes and dreams." Rachel turned to look at Blaine as he said that. She sure hoped there was someone out there like that for her.

"Yes, but how do I meet him? How do I know…. UCK. No. I told you that I want to protect myself. I have to focus on my career. Me first, boys last."

"OK, whatever you say! I'm gonna head out, Kurt's picking me up to go see the new Mamma Mia exhibit at the history museum. Toodles!" And with that, Blaine gathered his bag and gave Rachel a quick squeeze. Then he skipped to the front door and left.

Rachel was alone with her thoughts once again. The only immediate solution to her problems was to throw herself into her next glee project. The theme was self-acceptance. This was easy for people who were obviously different, like Kurt or Artie. They had come to terms with who they were and what they could accomplish. Rachel on the other hand, was, for the most part, normal. Sure, she was incredibly ambitious and a tad loud mouthed but other than that, she was just another student at McKinley. She had never been pregnant or experimented with her sexuality, she had never lost a limb or had a fatal disease. The only reason people made fun of her was because she belonged to glee club. Rachel was stumped. She used to be able to find the perfect songs to describe her feelings. Her feelings were mostly about Finn, but she was not about to sing about him again.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

It was now the week after Christmas break and about three weeks since New Directions' win at Sectionals. Students at McKinley were not very excited to be back at school, especially Finn. School meant having to see the girl he hurt, and know that he could never repair the damages.

It was Thursday, so that meant glee club met after school. Finn had initially been very confused about that week's theme, which was self-acceptance. Being in glee club and maintaining his popularity had made Finn a perfect target for peer pressure. He knew that he loved both things very much. He had begun to understand that, despite physical and emotional beatings by the rest of the football team, he was proud of himself. But unfortunately no artist had recently released a song about juggling glee club, sports, and popularity.

Finn had searched through all the songs on iTunes, eventually finding a song by a rather obscure artist that was perfect for his situation. So, after Kurt sang his version of Aladdin's "Proud of Your Boy", Finn raised his hand to sing next.

"C'mon down, Finn!" Mr. Schu waved Finn down from his choir chair to the front of the room. Finn handed the pianist the music and started to sing.

"It starts with not questioning the answers

And giving up before you've begun

It locks all the doors,

Increases the pressure, and in a flash

Your time is up before it's done

And you won't know

How it can feel

To feel at all

Finn could feel the glee club's eyes on him. He was looking down at his music, but he could see Rachel shift uncomfortably in her seat.

I'll kick down the walls around me

They don't know how strong I am

I'm defined by boundaries

They could never understand

I'm so much more

Than status quo

Forget about being another pipe dreamer

Stuck on the bottom floor

And I know it's time to go

So maybe I've gotten everything that I wanted

But I think that I might have made it so

When I said no no no to status quo.

Finn concluded the song and returned to his seat with his fellow glee member's applause. He felt good about singing about something other than what was truly on his mind; the girl in the sweater who raised her hand next.

Song: Status Quo by The Cast of Starship, written by Darren Criss