"All I said was hello, Finn. Although I might hate him, I do feel like I need to be civil when we do come in contact with one another."

"Why, Rach? He left you broken in the school parking lot covered in eggs. To me, that's someone you write out of your life."

"But I can't Finn, I can't just forget him."

"Again, I ask you why? It is stupid! You scream at me for the littlest things and it takes you weeks to forgive me! And then him, you still talk to after everything he's done. Why is it so simple?"

"Because I loved him, alright Finn?" But his reaction was something that she did not expect. They had been going on and on about her encounter with Jesse from the moment she told him that she had seen him.

For months, Finn had been at her side and neither had spoken of the boy who left Rachel high and dry. Neither talked about how he had used Rachel. And Rachel definitely did not mention the fact that she still found herself crying to sleep some nights with images of those blue-green eyes rather than the brown she should be dreaming of.

So, when she wandered into the music store after almost a year, her pain that had been hidden for months on end began to resurface.

All the heartache, all the anger. It boiled in her doe eyes as they met his. The showface that had always laid upon his lips fell as he looked upon her, taking in her new features. He noted that she was thinner, that her hair hung straight with bangs across her forehead. He took in every change but knew that no matter what, she was still Rachel.

"Hi," he had muttered and "Hello" she had replied in a chipped tone. It was just as he expected. But he couldn't blame her. It had been his fault. "Guess it'd be kind of pointless to say sorry, wouldn't it?"

If there was one thing that Jesse St. James was not good at, it was knowing when Rachel Berry would finally snap. It had only happened once when they were dating but now, it seemed as if she had no reserves.

"It wouldn't matter? It'd be pointless? Jesse, you cracked an egg on my head and then left me broken in a parking lot. I don't think a simple 'sorry' would even begin to cover it! You blamed everything on me, you made me feel as if I did it all to myself! If you just said 'sorry' I would not hesitate giving you the slap that you so rightfully deserve."

"Well, then a sorry and this will have to suffice." She couldn't say it was surprising, he had always been smug, but what did surprise her was how her body responded to him when Jesse placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her lips towards his own. For everything nerve in her body burned, every inch of her skin was ignited like everything used to be when they were together. But they weren't together anymore, she was with someone else.

And that's how she found herself screaming with the tall boy in front of her. His face red with anger as he waited for her to continue.

"I loved him, alright Finn? And when I saw him, I gave him a little piece of my mind! I told him that I wasn't going to just accept an apology because he hurt me worse than anyone else...and then, Finn. I don't know what happened! Before I could respond...Jesse kissed me Finn. And I'm telling you this because we have a relationship based on honesty, and I think you deserve-"

She felt the sting before her mind caught up with the sensation. Two quick moments that would change her, two that brought tears to her eyes. It was sharp and biting, leaving a knowing mark upon her once flawless cheek. She could see his hand coming back, the first time it had been to quick.

The dramatic side of her wanted to think of every second of agony for they would most certainly come in handy with her stage work. However, the logical part of her brain was telling her that crying was the only thing she could manage. So much for me being a strong girl.

"I can't believe that you would do something like this."

And again, came the pain. It was sharp and quick and it stung like nothing she had ever felt before. "Finn, it meant nothing! It was all Jesse! I didn't even have a say in the matter! And it's not like the same thing didn't happen with us when you were with Quinn."

It was in that moment when Rachel Berry realized that her mouth would be the death of her. She didn't think before she spoke, she just let the words spew from her lips and paid the consequences later. This time, it would be brutal.

His stronger hand gripped her arms as she tried to pull away but his grip only tightened. "Finn, you're hurting me." But it seemed he didn't hear her, for she felt his hands imprinting their mark upon them.

And then, she felt the cold of the floor beneath her hands. He had thrown her from his grasp, pushing her to the ground below them. The guttural sound that escaped her lips when his foot came in contact with her stomach must have brought Finn crashing to reality. "Oh god," he muttered before she heard his heaving footsteps running out of the room and down the stairs. The door slammed behind him as she finally let the tears fall steadily from her eyes.

"It's over, look out below. I'm wasted, I still taste it, yeah it's so hard to let go. So breathe in now, and let it out. The forecast, a car crash, it's looking like another breakdown, rebound. This could be my last goodbye, you cross your heart, I hope to die."

And her mind began to wander, the reason behind it all. If she thought about it clearly, she might have realized that it was always him they fought over, always him they disagreed about.

"And oh, I'm gonna be wounded. Oh, you're gonna be my wound." Shakily, she reached for her phone, dialing the number she had never forgotten and she waited with baited breath as the ringing continued. Until his voice flooded to her ears. "J-Jesse?"

-JRJRJRJR-

She hadn't moved from her spot on the floor, her father's being out and the house silent apart from her sobs that wracked her body. She didn't hear the door open or hear his hurried steps up to her room. All she saw was the black of his shoes as he stood in the doorway.

"Rachel," he whispered as he bent down to her, gingerly touch the red marks across her face. She felt him place one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back as he carried her towards the bed that held so many memories for them both.

The grip she had on his shirt tightened as he tried to sit her down, her whimpers stopping him from laying her on the bed and tucking her in. Instead, he gently kicked off his shoes as he climbed in with her still attached to him, her tears soaking his shirt. He softly began to hum, the tune one she knew well. "Oh, I'm gonna bruise you, oh, you're gonna be my bruise."

"Jess," she managed to croak out as she tried to look up to him. The pads of his thumbs began to wipe away the fallen tears and when they were renewed, his lips replaced them. "Who said that it's better to have loved and lost, I wish that I had never loved at all..."

Okay, so this is going to be like a 5 shot, I think, by the time it's finished and it's a little out there and unique. I have all my ideas in my head and I've written the next chapter already so I just have to finish up the rest. I'd really like some reviews on it since I really don't get that many. Comments and criticism are ALWAYS appreciated :D