Broken

Prologue

A/N: New story. I'm still working on my other one, don't worry. This is a darker, angstier story. I own nothing. And I know Finn is her brother, but it's my mind, okay.

Rachel sat in the car with her fathers, staring out the window. She had deiced to start college in New York with her brother. She had a tough couple of years and needed a break from everything. She watched the trees go by and closed her eyes pretending to sleep. She stroked the black fur of the dog her dads had let her adopt from the pound. She hoped that Finn wouldn't mind her having the dog around. It's not like Pixie would bother him anyways, just like Rachel, Pixie was afraid of men.

Rachel's dad, Henry, looked back at his daughter and sighed. She was 19 years old, but looked 5 years older, and not in a good way. These past two years were hard on her and it showed. Her once shiny, bouncy dark brown hair was now lackluster and hung limp around her face. The once vibrant smile she wore was now dull and faked. She couldn't care to look nice, choosing to just wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt every day. He hoped that the time with Finn, away from Lima, would be good for her, but he was also very worried. She was still skiddish around men, even him and his husband. None of them had told her about Finn's friend Puck who lived in the apartment, afraid that Rachel would change her mind. Finn said he told Puck enough that he wouldn't feel hurt if Rachel didn't warm up to him right away.

Rachel opened her eyes when her dad, Walter, stopped the car at a McDonalds. She looked out the window and sighed. She wasn't hungry, and they knew it. They wouldn't get her to eat. They'd been trying for two years and she would only eat one meal a day no matter what. "Honey, we're going to get food. We'll be right back out, okay?" Walter asked his daughter, worry in his eyes and voice. Rachel didn't say anything, just stared straight ahead and put in her headphones, blocking out the world. The words of Lifehouse blared through her iPod speakers. I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out. I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing, with a broken heart that's still beating. In the pain, there is healing, in your name I find meaning. Rachel did something she hadn't done since that night, she cried. She cried for her lost youth, for how she made her brother and her dad's feel. For how she exiled everybody she knew all because of one little event in her life.

Henry walked back to the car and saw his little girl crying. The sight nearly killed him. He hated her being so sad and didn't know how much more he could take. He felt selfish that he was glad she was staying with Finn for a little while. He didn't want to sound like a bad father, but he was looking forward to sleeping at night and not being worried about her nightmares and panic attacks.

...***...***...***

Finn paced around his apartment trying to get things ready for Rachel. His sister was coming to stay with him and he was freaking out. He hadn't seen her since he left for college two years ago right after she changed. He felt guilty that he was basically running away from his little sister and her problems, but he knew she wouldn't want the world to stop for her. They still emailed and wrote letters every week thought, and when she said she wanted to move in with him, he was ecstatic. He wasn't thinking when he agreed, but then he remembered one thing. His best friend and roommate Noah Puckerman; Puck was a ladies man to say the least. Finn had talked to him about his sister moving in and the fact that Puck couldn't talk to her like all the others, Rachel was different.

Now, Finn was making sure her room was all set, her bathroom was clean, there was food for her to eat, clean towels for her to use, an empty dresser for her clothes and it was driving Puck insane. "Dude, stop pacing, its driving me batty." Puck ground out at Finn.

"Sorry dude, I'm just a little on edge. I haven't seen my sister in forever and I want everything to be perfect for her. Just remember what I told you."

"Yeah yeah I know. Be careful around her. Don't look at her too long. Don't talk to her first. Don't touch her. Blah blah blah." Puck laughed before continuing. "Dude, I'm not gonna bang your sister. Don't worry." As soon as Puck said that they heard a car door slam outside and Finn went running down the steps to the car.

Hello, hello I'm glad I found you. Been away a long long time. The sun will rise and the sun will set tomorrow. And it's been rough of this old heart of mine. Finn couldn't help but think of the lyrics to California when he saw his sister. She smiled at him as she got out of the car. "Hey Rach." He said quietly so he wouldn't scare her.

"Hi Finn," she smiled at him even wider and then frowned when Pixie jumped out of the car behind her. "I hope you don't mind. Dad and Daddy let me adopt her. She won't be any trouble." She looked down and Finn couldn't stand to see her still looking so broken.

"Rachel, its fine. I don't care if you have a dog, okay?" Finn asked gently and Rachel nodded. "Now come on, let's get you moved in." He smiled at her.

"Sure. Thanks for letting me stay by the way."

"No problem. Anything for my sister."

Rachel smiled and nodded at him, starting to feel comfortable when she saw Puck. He wasn't as big as Finn, but he was more muscular. His Mohawk scared her a little and she tensed looking over his body. Puck smirked until he saw how uncomfortable she looked with him around. He thought Finn was kidding about her being jumpy around guys. "Hi, I'm Noah Puckerman. I'm Finn's roommate." Puck said as gently as he could and smiled kindly at her.

Rachel just waved a little and picked up Pixie walking in behind everyone. When Puck, Walter, Henry and Finn climbed in the elevator, Rachel walked past it and went to the stairs. She walked up the five flights and saw everyone else waiting for her. "Sorry," she said looking down and blushing a little.

"Its fine Rach, don't worry about it." Finn said smiling and opening the door to her new life.

A/N: What do you think? It's just a prologue, I'll write more tomorrow. The songs I used were Broken By Lifehouse and California by Atherton.