Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or How to Save a Life.
Note: It's the end-of-the-summer party, and tensions from the recent graduates are running high. Will they get through this separation?
"Hey, Rachel," Finn nodded as he entered the party. "How are you?" He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she pulled away before he could. He frowned, this being the first time she'd ever refused a kiss from him. "What's wrong?" He looked into her dark eyes.
"We need to talk," she pulled him down the hallway by his wrist. She passed gyrating bodies, those of her closest friends, but all of which seemed like strangers as she strode by them, eyes narrowing on the guest bedroom at the end of the never-ending hall. The music pulsed through the house, but nothing seemed louder to Rachel than the pounding of her own heart in her ears. She pushed open the door to the room and closed it behind Finn, managing to drown out the music, but not the sound of her heartbeat.
"What's going on, Rachel?" Finn furrowed his brow.
"Sit down," she gestured towards the desk chair. "It's just a talk," she said, off his look of surprise. "I don't know how to say this," she began to say. She took a deep breath…
Ugh, why did I come to this stupid party in the first place? "Mercedes!" Kurt Hummel yelled over the music. "Have you seen Rachel?"
"No," she called back. "I haven't seen her since I came over to help set up."
"God," Kurt muttered. "Where's your best friend when you need her?" He shook his head, trying to brush it off. "Thanks, Mercedes. I'll go look for her in a bit!" He surveyed the room full of dancing school friends, classmates, and fellow Glee club members. He bit his tongue as he caught the eye of his longtime boyfriend, Blaine Anderson, and blushed when Blaine winked at him flirtily. He moved through the crowd to grab a bottle of water, pushing through groups of teenagers who'd managed to smuggle alcohol into the party. He shook his head at them disapprovingly and grabbed the desired water before making his way over to Blaine's side, where his boyfriend snaked his arm around his waist protectively. "Hey, baby."
If only he'd known what was to happen that night.
"Finn, you know I love you," Rachel said slowly. "You know I love you very, very much, nearly as much as I love performing."
"Which I consider a great honor," Finn nodded, unsure of where this was going.
"Yes," Rachel nodded back. "And, um, you're well aware that I did not get accepted into NYADA. In fact, your, um, stepbrother is in fact attending there in a few short weeks."
"I'm still so sorry about that," Finn apologized. "I mean, I'm really happy for Kurt, but I know you had your heart set on that school."
"But I accepted my fate," Rachel smoothed her skirt out. "And I decided to attend Tisch, which is mere blocks away from Kurt."
"Yeah, he won't stop talking about the NYC adventures you two are gonna have," Finn smiled. "He tells me you two are gonna, and I quote, 'have a hell of a fun time'."
"And I don't doubt that," Rachel gave him a small smile in exchange. "But, Finn…I…" she sighed. "There's something I need to tell you, and I need to tell you this tonight."
This couldn't end well.
"Blaine?" Kurt said suddenly. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?"
"Of course," Blaine shot him a dazzling grin. "Anything for you, Kurt." He followed Kurt out the back door and to the Pierce's backyard. "What's up?"
"Oh, Blaine," Kurt choked back a sob. "In a few very short weeks…" he trailed off, not needing to say the rest of his thought.
"I know, baby," Blaine stepped forward and pulled Kurt into an embrace. "You'll be in New York, and I'll be stuck here for another year. But I'll have Tina and Artie and Rory to hang out with, and you'll always have Rachel nearby if you need her. And we can Skype every day, twice a day!" He rubbed Kurt's back soothingly. "Remember what you said to me when you transferred back to McKinley last year?" He pulled back, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and looking into his light blue-grey eyes.
"'I'm never saying goodbye to you'," Kurt quoted from memory.
"And?" Blaine prompted.
Kurt chuckled softly. "I'm keeping that promise. I can't say goodbye to you, ever."
"Because?" Blaine smiled knowingly.
"I love you," Kurt rolled his eyes a little. "And I always will. But one thing first."
"Anything," Blaine gave him a peck on the forehead.
"Promise me you'll write me long letters? And I mean actual hand-written letters, to send to me, like the love letters of yore?" Kurt blinked lovingly at the dark-haired teen.
"Of course," Blaine leaned in for a long, sweet kiss.
And pray to God he hears you and gets you through this.
"In a very short time, we'll be separated," Rachel said softly. "I'll be on the East Coast, and you'll be here, at Ohio State. We won't even be in the same time zone anymore."
"Well, yeah, but that's kind of why they invented Skype," Finn shrugged.
"I always swore I'd never do two things," Rachel whispered. "Exploit animals, pose nude, and maintain a long-distance relationship. Finn…I…I can't go to school in New York City, the place of my very dreams, the place I know where I'm meant to be, try to start a career while keeping up a perfect 4.0 GPA, and have a boyfriend back in middle-of-nowhere Ohio."
"So what are you saying?" Finn asked, confused.
"I'm saying…I think I want to break up," Rachel said softly.
Bad move, Rachel.
"Brittany!" Santana Lopez called over the deafening techno beat. "Britt!"
"Yeah?" The blonde answered from behind her.
"Oh, there you are," Santana sighed in relief. "I can't believe it's almost the end."
"What?" Brittany cocked her head, finding it hard to hear.
"I said, I can't believe it's almost the end!" Santana yelled.
"Of the party?" Brittany asked in adorable confusion.
"I meant the summer," Santana took a step closer to her girlfriend. "We're leaving soon."
"I know," Brittany murmured as the Latina stroked the inside of her wrist. "I'm so sad."
"I think I'm even sadder," Santana admitted. "God, Britt, I love you so much."
"And I love you," Brittany said. "But I guess we have to go our separate ways."
"You mean in terms of school, right?" Santana's heart pounded wildly. "Not as in our relationship?"
"Of course not as in our relationship," Brittany smiled. "I want to stay with you, even if we're not going to the same school."
"But I'm really going to miss you," Santana sniffled. "How will I survive college without my best friend by my side?"
"You'll make new friends," Brittany shrugged. "And we can Skype or text."
"I guess you're right," Santana felt tears come to her eyes. "But I'll still miss you."
"You'll always have me with you," Brittany smiled. "In your heart."
She could give him one last choice: Drive until he lost the road or break with the ones he's followed.
"You're breaking up with me?" Finn asked in disbelief. "Rachel…why?"
"I can't be with you, follow my dreams, maintain perfect grades, and somehow keep my sanity in check all at the same time, especially being in a strange city until winter break."
"You're not coming home for Thanksgiving?" Finn squinted his eyes. "You lied!"
"I couldn't get cheap enough plane tickets," Rachel admitted. "And besides, I get out for break two weeks afterwards, so it would really make no sense. Kurt and I are already planning on having our own little Thanksgiving together…"
"Kurt's not coming home either?" Finn stood up angrily.
"He gets out the week after me," Rachel said quietly. "You understand, don't you?"
Finn clenched his hands into fists. "No, Rachel. I don't understand," he said slowly.
"But Finn…" she started to explain, but before she knew what was happening, Finn had hit her across the face, hard. She dropped her mouth open in disbelief. "Finn…"
"Fuck you, Rachel," he hissed. "Just…fuck you." He moved over to the door and locked it. "No one breaks up with Finn Hudson. Finn Hudson breaks up with girls."
"Finn, baby…" Rachel's face still stung from where he'd smacked her.
"Don't call me baby," he lifted his hand to hit her again…
He would do one of two things: He would admit to everything or he'd say he's just not the same. Rachel didn't know which.
"Tina," Mike pulled his girlfriend aside. "Tina, honestly," he yanked the bottle of beer out of her hand. "Listen to me, please."
"I don't need to listen to you, Mike," she slurred. "We broke up last week."
"I know," he blew out a puff of breath. "I can still care about you as a friend."
"But you can't tell me what to do," she attempted to snatch the drink back from him, but he held it high above her head, where she couldn't get at it. "Give that back!"
"No," he said sternly. "I'm supposed to get you back to your home in one piece tonight, and I'm going to keep that promise to myself and to your parents."
"Screw you," she slurred, stomping on his foot and stumbling away. She scanned the room, feeling sexy and sensual all of a sudden, wanting to flirt and to have drunken, reckless sex. She made her way over to Artie, who was laughing at seemingly nothing in his chair near the television. "Hey babe," she giggled. "What's going on with you?"
"Heyyyy sexy lady," he slurred back at her, clearly also drunk.
"I've missed you," she climbed onto his lap. "Wow, I really missed you," she snuggled against him. "And in like, two weeks, we're gonna rule the school."
"Yeah," Artie fist-pumped. "You know it, girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Tina perked up. "Am I your girlfriend again?"
"I dunno, are you?" Artie wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
God, why did they all get drunk again? Didn't they remember what happened the last time this happened?
"Finn, please, stop!" Rachel begged as the tall boy continued to hit her. "Finn!"
"You bitch, I'll beat the hell out of you!" Finn yelled. Rachel's breath hitched, and she tried to inch her way towards the door to escape. She hoped to God that someone would be near the door and would hear what was going on and knock on the door and save her.
"Why are you doing this?" She managed to get out through her tears.
"I gave you everything," Finn breathed heavily. "You gave me your goddamn virginity, Rachel, and you just decide to leave me? And Kurt! Who the hell does he think he is? Doesn't he know that that stupid art school is fucking expensive, that his father doesn't have the money to swing it for him? What does he think he can do with a theatre degree anyway? God, he's so stupid, the both of you are."
"Did you just call me stupid?" Rachel asked, shocked. "I thought you'd never use-"
Smack! Finn slapped her across the face yet again. "Don't talk back to me, bitch." She whimpered and sank to the floor, wishing she could just disappear.
He had to find her, Kurt just had to find her. He sensed something was wrong, very wrong.
"Rachel?" Kurt peered into the kitchen. "Rachel?" He scanned the room, but not finding the girl, he backed out. Looking around the living room, he attempted to find the Jewish girl. Instead, he saw Artie and Tina making out, Santana and Brittany dancing together, and various jocks circling them, trying to get them to take their tops off, or at least kiss. He hurriedly grabbed Quinn. "Q, have you seen Rachel?"
"Nope," she shrugged. "Sorry, K."
"It's okay," he gave her a small smile. Desperately, fearing something was wrong and knowing how his stepbrother's temper could be, he climbed the stairs, hoping to find her there. "Sam," he spotted the blonde. "Sam, where's Rachel?"
"Um, I think I saw her and Finn up here a little while ago, but I don't know where they went," he looked apologetic.
"Thanks for the tip," Kurt said appreciatively. He tried a couple of the doors, praying he wouldn't stumble across a couple having sex. "Rachel? Rach?" He turned the corner and found a long hallway leading to the guest wing, where he knew Rory stayed. Curious, he headed down the hall. Rory, he had seen, was downstairs, flirting shamelessly with what suspiciously looked like Harmony from the NYADA group, so he was pretty sure no one would be around. Still, he knocked on the bedroom door. "Rachel? Are you in there?"
Rachel gasped as she heard a knock on the door and Kurt's familiar voice calling through the painted wood to her. "Kurt? Kurt, oh, please help!"
Kurt pulled on the door, but found it locked. "Rachel? Open the door!"
"Everything's fine, Kurt," Finn yelled, his voice gentle, yet dangerous.
"Finn?" Kurt furrowed his brows in concern. "Why is the door locked? Please tell me I did not interrupt sexual intercourse…again."
"Kurt, go get help, Finn has been-" Rachel hurriedly tried to say, but Finn clasped a hand over her mouth, muffling the end of her sentence.
"He's been what?" Kurt pressed an ear to the door. "Finn, stop it, whatever you're doing!" His heart sped up as he became increasingly more worried for his friend.
"It's all good, Kurt," Finn said. "Just a little…lover's spat."
"I don't believe you," Kurt muttered. "Rachel, I'm going to get someone, okay?" He dashed back downstairs, looking for someone who could potentially break down the door, heart racing as he scanned the crowded, hazy room. "Puck," his eyes widened. He ran towards the Mohawked boy, hoping he wasn't too drunk to comply. "Puck, please, help me out."
"Whoa there," Puck laughed. "I don't think Blaine would like that."
"Not that," Kurt gave him his signature bitch glare. "Rachel's in trouble. Finn seems to have locked the two of them in the guest bedroom…"
"Maybe they're just fucking," Puck shrugged.
"Then why would Rachel be calling for help? And I didn't like the tone of Finn's voice," he admitted. "Please, just come help me, Noah."
"Noah?" Puck's face suddenly grew serious, knowing Kurt would never use his full name unless something bad or urgent was happening. "Okay, where's the guest bedroom?"
"Follow me," Kurt motioned up the stairs, and Puck followed him, mind racing.
Time, time was ticking on and on…
"Yo, Finn, what's up, bro?" Puck called through the door.
"Oh, nothing," Finn replied in a cool-as-a-cucumber voice. "Talking to Rachel."
"Finn, you're hurting me," Rachel gasped as the taller and heavier boy pinned her to the bed. "Finn, please, stop it, you're frightening me!" She trembled as he reached up her skirt and fondled her. "Finn…Finn, no!"
"See?" Kurt mumbled. Puck shot him a look. "I told you."
"Stand back," Puck mouthed, motioning for Kurt to move away. Kurt slipped to the side and pressed himself against the wall as Puck stood at the end of the hall and ran towards the door at full-speed, managing to break it down on the first attempt. "Step away from the girl," he said in a very un-Puck like voice as Kurt squeezed past him, looking on in horror as he watched his stepbrother about to rape his best friend.
"Make me," Finn smirked, reaching up to stroke Rachel under her skirt again. The brunette girl cried softly, eyes brightening for a moment as she saw Kurt.
"Are you high?" Puck asked incredulously. "Dude, rape is so not cool."
"Who said I was going to rape Rachel? I love Rachel," Finn said with an evil smile splayed across his face.
"Your dick is out and her underwear is on the floor, and she's crying," Puck stepped closer to Finn, clearly about to deck him, as Kurt managed to get Rachel up and was holding her closely as she clung to him.
"It was totally consensual. She's crying because she's so in love with me," Finn tried.
"This is low, even for you, Finn," Puck snarled. "And if you don't tell me the truth and get the hell out of this house right now—oh, and by the way, I don't think Rory would really appreciate you having sex in his bed—I might just castrate you."
"Why do you care so much about Rachel?" Finn sneered.
"She's one of my people," Puck explained. "And she's my friend."
"But she's my girlfriend," Finn stood up, not caring that he was naked from the waist down, not caring that there were two guys that could take him out right there and then.
"Get the fuck out," Kurt yelled suddenly. "You're no stepbrother of mine, Finn Hudson!"
Rachel let out a low sob and broke free from Kurt's grasp, running out the door, down the stairs, and through the party, tears streaming down her face, only pausing to grab her purse and her keys before bolting out the front door unnoticed. "Rachel!" Kurt yelled after her. "Rachel, come back!"
Rachel jammed the keys into ignition of her car and sped off, tears not ceasing to flow. She'd heard Kurt calling after her, and was pretty sure he'd tried to run for her, but ignored him and ran away from him, from Finn, from all of them. All of the "whys" and "what if's" ran through her head. What if Rory had come back to his room for something? What if someone had heard her earlier? What if someone hadn't heard or come looking for her earlier, and Finn had succeeded in raping her? It was clear that he hadn't intended on using protection…what if she'd fallen pregnant with his child? She shook, violent tremors that racked her petite body. She prayed that Puck was giving Finn what he damn deserved, that Kurt was calling the police, that someone, anyone was caring where she'd disappeared to. Out of nowhere, she remembered all she had to do before leaving for New York. She laughed in spite of herself, and before she knew it, she was laughing hysterically, and could not stop. She pulled through an intersection and saw the blinding light before she could even react, stomped on the brakes, but it was not enough. The impact crunched the car, a scream barely escaping her lips before she succumbed to the nothingness.
An hour later, Kurt's cell phone was ringing. He prayed it was Rachel, telling him she had arrived home safely, but it seemed to be coming from the Lima Police. He curiously answered it. Nothing, nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to be told.
"Guys," he lowered the volume on the stereo to complaints. "I have some bad news." A lump formed in his throat and tears came to his eyes. "Rachel died tonight."
"What?" Blaine stepped forward. "Kurt, this isn't funny…"
"No," he sniffled. "I just got the call. She was in a car accident on the way home tonight, after Finn tried to rape her."
Tina's hands flew to her mouth, suddenly seeming to sober up. "No…"
"Where are you going?" Kurt whirled around to see Sam barreling up the stairs, followed closely by Rory and Mike.
"To teach Finn a lesson about treating women right," Sam called over his shoulder.
"I wish I'd known how to save a life," Kurt buried his head in Blaine's shoulder. "I wish I'd known…how to save her…"