Rachel Berry was never one to feel down upon herself. She loved herself and that's what made her such a star. She never thought she would be sitting in her room with a pair of scissors at hand, ready to cut herself. She had become so worked up lately. She had been hanging out with people more often, sure, but she felt so empty. She would go home and cry and would never be able to explain why. She cried herself to sleep and woke up in the morning in tears. She put on her best show face for school and the second she got home, she tore it off and showed herself her true emotions. She didn't know what she was feeling.

She sat there contemplating whether or not she should move the scissors across her tiny wrist, but then decided it would hurt, but would make her heart feel better. That was all she really wanted.

She moved the scissors across her wrist, slowly, applying a good amount of pressure to cut into her skin. She made several of these cuts all while crying. She wasn't feeling any better so she just decided to keep going. She made cuts everywhere. All the way up her arms and even went down to place a few on her legs.

She was uncontrollably sobbing by now and she threw the scissors across the room. Her clothes and her bed were covered in little blotches of blood and when she looked down and saw this, she screamed. Cutting herself was supposed to make her feel better but it instead left her feeling hysterical.

She sat on her bed and continued to cry, making no attempt to clean anything up. She didn't know what to do with herself. She still felt so empty and now she was just afraid of what she had done to herself. Once she gained enough power, she walked to her bathroom in tears and started to clean herself up. She looked at herself in the mirror and cried harder at the sight of her sad face with tears trickling down it.

She took a deep breath and walked out into her room to grab her phone. She never wanted to rely on anybody, but she was too scared to think about that right now. She couldn't handle herself; she didn't know what to do. She went through her contacts and immediately went to Finn's name. Yes, she thought that he was with Quinn right now. Yes, they did still have some unresolved feelings. But nonetheless, they were still friends. She wasn't sure about his feelings, but she knew without a doubt that Finn Hudson was indeed her very best friend. She hit the call button figuring it was worth a shot.

She repeated "Please answer, I need you" over and over as the phone rang. He finally answered.

"Hello?" Finn said.

Rachel was just so relieved that he answered and let out a long sigh, one she didn't even know she was holding. All Finn heard was her breathing and he became a little worried.

"Rach?"

Hearing him call her nickname like that caused her body to let out a loud sob followed by some crying.

"Rachel?" Finn repeated himself, this time using her full name out of major concern. "Rachel, talk to me. What's wrong?"

"Finn?" Rachel said, a little breathy from her heavy crying.

"Yeah Rach, I'm here. What's up? Please tell me."

"Finn, I just…I just…are you busy?"

"I am busy. Busy talking to you. Come on Rach, talk to me."

"Finn, I…I…I just REALLY need my best friend right now…" She trailed off and immediately started crying again.

"Rachel, baby, what's wrong? Tell me. Tell me, please."

"I don't know how…" She sobbed.

"Okay, I'm coming over, okay? I'll help you okay?" Finn started crying silently to himself, not wanting Rachel to know that he was silently losing himself to the sound of her broken voice and her on and off sobbing. She said she needed her best friend, and he had to stay strong for her.

"Okay." Rachel said.

"Go unlock the door and then go up to your room and lay down. I'll be right there, I promise. Breathe."

"Hurry, Finn. I need a hand to hold."

After Finn heard this statement come out of her mouth, his heart immediately shattered. He pictured Rachel sitting on her bed, holding the phone close, crying, desperate for someone to hold her and tell her it's okay. He immediate hung up and got his keys and ran out his front door.

He arrived at Rachel's house 5 minutes later. He grabbed a hoodie of his from the back seat of his car. He remembered how wearing one of his hoodies always seemed to calm Rachel down.

Finn ran up her driveway to her front door, relieved when he found that she had listened to him and unlocked the door. Once inside, he ran up the stair to the door of the room that he knew so well. He opened it and incase his heart didn't hurt enough; it hurt even more when he saw the sight on front of him.

Rachel had listened to his other request of lying down and she was completely curled up and crying. Tissues were everywhere; there was a pair of scissors on the floor, and there were spots of blood on her comforter.

He ran over to the side of the bed she was facing and kneeled down and was at her eyelevel.

"Rach, open your eyes."

She did as he requested and all he saw were red, bloodshot eyes filled with tears. His heart continued to break.

"Finn…you're here…"

"Yeah, Rach I'm here." He reached for her hand suddenly remembering that she needed a hand to hold. He closed his fingers tightly around hers and without thinking he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently. "You said you needed your best friend and what kind of best friend would I be if I didn't help MY best friend."

He started to rub small circles on the back of her hand and she breathed suddenly feeling completely content. He got up and sat her up, leaning her against the headboard of her bed. He kicked off his shoes and sat next to her. He reached over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He kept his arms around her and let his one hand rub her tummy. Rachel continued to feel more and more relaxed. She felt herself stop crying and everything seemed right sitting in Finn's lap, him soothing her. She was breathing regularly and thought to herself "Wow…he really was all I needed."

"Finn…I'm so sorry to drag you away from whatever you were…"

"Rachel, you didn't drag me away from anything. I promise. Tell me, what's up?"

"I don't know. I just…I feel so empty all the time. I mean, I'm starting to believe that some people care for me, ya know? I mean, I kind of think some people are actually starting to love me. But the second I get home, I break down Finn. I remember that nobody loved me before and I'm the exact same person. So there's no way anybody loves me now. I just don't understand it. I want somebody to love me, Finn. My dads don't count. I know they'll always love me, they have to. But I just want to feel some sort of love towards me from someone else. I accept it. Nobody loves me, nobody ever will. But I don't like it. I want to feel different. I go to school with a big smile on my face to come home and cry uncontrollably because I want to feel better. Today when I got home, all I wanted to do was hurt myself. I heard it helps with feeling better. So I ran and got a pair of scissors and…and…" She started to cry again and Finn felt her start to shake again.

He looked down at her and had never seen anybody look so small and helpless. It killed him to see Rachel crying but at the same time, she looked so tragically beautiful. "Beautiful." He thought to himself. "She's always just so beautiful."

"Rach, please tell me you didn't…" He started crying himself.

Rachel looked up at him and said "Finn…I am so, so sorry."

"Oh Rachel, why would you be sorry baby, you didn't do anything to be sorry for. Let me see, please." He looked down to her opening up her arms for him. He could tell that they were fresh. "Rachel…"

"I thought it would make me feel better, Finn. I really did! It only made me feel worse and I couldn't do anything, Finn. I didn't know what to do; I still don't know what to do. But I was just afraid of myself and that's when I knew I needed to call you…"

Finn started to run his hands up and down her arms and legs that had the cuts all over them. He understood why she did it. But his beautiful Rachel was the most loved thing in his heart. Why didn't he realize this before? Why? Why did it have to take this for him to realize he loved her with all his heart? He felt like the biggest asshole knowing that he was the reason for her pain. He couldn't have realized this before? This would've taken her pain away, hearing someone loves her. He knows this is all his fault.

"Rachel…I am so, so sorry. If I would've just come to realization earlier, you wouldn't have had to go through this. I feel like the biggest douche known to man right now, I am so sorry." He started to cry. Rachel felt his body start to shake and she looked up at him.

"Finn..wha…what are you talking about? You didn't do anything!" She started to soothingly rub up and down his arms.

"Yes I did! God, I just couldn't just say it. I couldn't just say 'I LOVE YOU RACHEL!' But I do Rach, I love you. I love, love, love, love you. With all my heart. I never once stopped, don't ever doubt that. I love everything about you, everything! You mean everything to me as well. I'm such an asshole Rachel. It took me seeing you like this, in a horrible situation for me to realize this. I am so, so, so sorry baby." He started to cry even harder, though he felt completely relieved that that was off his chest.

"Finn…don't be sorry. Oh my goodness, do not be sorry. I needed to hear that. I have been waiting for so long for someone to tell me that they love me. So, so long. I love you too, Finn. Aww, I love you too so so much Finn." She looked up to him with a sad face. "Stop crying silly!"

"Help me stop crying."

"How can I do that?" Rachel asked, never losing his gaze.

"Get up here and kiss me." He said with a half smile.

"Happy to do so, sir." Rachel said crawling out of Finn's lap and getting super close to his face. His hands found her hips and he immediately pulled her to him. The second their lips connected for the first time in a long time, they both felt suddenly home. Rachel felt suddenly completely better, like the feelings she had earlier this afternoon had never even existed. She wondered how that could even be possible but she remembered this WAS Finn she was kissing, and that explained everything for her. Finn felt home again and silently told himself that he was never going to kiss another girl in his life. Rachel was it. Nobody else. He broke the kiss and started places little kisses all over her face, all while saying 'I love you,'

When he was done, the two looked at each other and had the biggest smiles on their faces that they could possibly pull.

"Thank you, Finn."

"For what?"

"For everything. For coming here to help me, for never leaving me, for being my best friend, for loving me. For everything. Thank you."

"Well thank you for letting me." He said with a smile. "And thank you for loving me, and being my best friend. Thank you for everything. God, I love you."

All Rachel could do was smile. She then gave out a little yawn.

That's when Finn got his hoodie off the floor beside her bed and pulled it on her. Rachel smelled it on herself and she let out a happy sigh with a smile on her face.

"Mmm, I feel so much better. Honestly Finn, I suddenly feel like I never had feelings of wanting to hurt myself. It's like they're all gone. It's like you're magic or something. My knight in shining armor."

Finn couldn't help but laugh at the terms Rachel was using in her sleepy state. "Anything for you, princess."

Rachel yawned again and Finn pulled her down onto the bed in laying position. He scooted next to her and wrapped his arms in her.

"Sleep Rach, you've had a long day." He said kissing her nose.

"Can you stay with me?" She asked, hopeful.

"Only if you want me to."

"I want you to, please." She said with a smile.

Finn layed down next to Rachel and she immediately rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"We're Finn and Rachel again. Finchel. I missed it. I'm glad it's back." Rachel said lulling into sleep.

"I missed it too, baby." Finn said, smiling. "Go to sleep."

Before Rachel fell completely asleep she whispered "I love you, Finn."

"I love you too, Rach."

Finn then felt Rachel's breathing even out and he knew she was asleep. He looked over to the most beautiful, peaceful thing. He smiled knowing she was all his again.

"Finn and Rachel." He whispered to himself. "Forever."