A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like this chapter.

"How was your day?" The blonde asks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Quinn Fabray was her name. The most popular girl in school, the most beautifulgirl in school. Her family was utterly respected in their community, after all, her father took care of one of the most important concentration camps yet and her mother was a feverish Catholic woman, always frequenting the church, dragging both of her daughters with her. Quinn wore a golden cross on her silky neck, because she believed in the love Jesus Christ could offer us all and save us. She believed in that. Poor silly Quinn, they said.

Quinn was also Finn Hudson's girlfriend. She never got along with his mom, Carole, to be quite honest. His mother was one to always support equal rights between Jewish people and the realpeople,something Quinn and her family were always so strongly against. Quinn never had an opinion about the subject, to be honest. She was like their puppet. She only went along with what her daddy said. Finn lay on her living room couch as she went through the bible a couple of times, smiling over at him and asking him about his day. Finn gulped.

Could he tell her about Rachel? Oh,mydaywaslovelyandbytheway?I'mhidingaJewishgirlinmybasement,butwhat'sgoingonwithyou?That surely wouldn't end up well. Instead, he nodded, faking a smile.

"We didn't do much in class today." He shrugged the lies off his shoulders. "The teacher said my reading is getting better, though. I'm actually being able to read threefull pages without missing a letter or making a mispronunciation. I think that's gotta be something." He smiled proudly. He was never able to keep up with everyone on his age on the letters, but he worked so hard, he truly deserved some recognition.

But instead of recognition, Quinn gave his shoulder a light pat and smiled over at him.

"You know what would really help you, Finn? Thechurch." She began and Finn fought for everything he had not to let out a groan. "It's so terrific, Finn! It's a sanctuary. It's always there to make you feel safe, at home, you see? You should join me some time." She took his hand and squeezed it lightly.

He didn't squeeze back.

Rachel was reading the book. She read it as she woke up, she read it waiting for lunch, she read it before lunch, she read it forherlife;because somehow, in the twisted mind of Rachel Berry, the hiding Jewish rat,reading those books, escapingfrom reality would be better than live the life she was leading. She was truly thankful Finn had given her the book.

It was a cold winter afternoon, so Rachel was crawled up with two blankets covering her feet and lap as she ran her fingers through the pages of the book, eating, consumingevery word carefully, and trying not to miss them, memorizing each word in her mind, playing the scenes of the book much easier in her head.

She could hear the bookshelf being pushed to the side and she stood on her feet, alert to every movement that was bound to happen in her safe place. Hidden behind the coffee table, she waited for the next move to come, gigantic feet stepping through the door. Finn.

The young man carried a large plate of food, beans, rice, eggs and carrots on it, filling the plate. Rachel was thankful Carole was always thoughtful enough to make her a separate food plate and not just give her the left overs like some would do to her people. The woman took good care of her, like her mother never did.

Finn frowned, his eyes not quite reaching Rachel's tiny frame along the room. She was getting better at her hiding, he figured. Slowly, a figure moved from behind the coffee table and he smiled. He remembered when he had mentioned her it would be best if she hid behind it and apparently, she remembered.

"Hey." He said softly, watching her drag herself to her bed, sitting on her knees and smoothing her skirt, which was actually an old one from his mom's closet, but whatever. "I brought you some lunch." She nodded as he leaned in and handed her the plate, which she took wholeheartedly and began devouring it like a starving animal. Fin watched with eyes wide. Hunger did stuff to people. It turned them into animals, he assumed.

Noticing he was still there, she stopped eating, cleaning the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and eyeing him curiously. She had pretty eyes. They were warm, sad, but still, needed for love, for carrying, they were hopeless. Finn choked on his breath and sighed.

"My mom says I have to take the dishes back upstairs, so I'll have to wait for you to finish." He explained himself, looking at the floor.

"You don't have to explain yourself." She said softly, taking another full spoon of her rice, eating it almost with utter pleasure. Finn looked up in shock. It was the first time she had actually said a full sentence to him, even so softly. "I feel lonely here. I appreciate your company." She admitted, looking at the blank walls and he could feel how cold, how lifeless her spirit was. Finn nodded slightly.

"You don't need to feel lonely anymore." He told her, looking over at her and smiling warmly. "I'll be here."

And he meant it. Every word of it.

As Rachel finished her food, she handed Finn the plate, lightly bumping her hand against his, blushing deeply as she did so, looking away. Finn's eyes were glued on the plate because apparently, he claimed if he broke it, his mother would kill him. Rachel maybe would like to break the plate, just so she could finally get her deserved release. But she didn't. Instead, she looked in Finn's eyes and saw it.

She saw a human. For the first time since this whole thing began, she saw a human in someone's eyes other than her father's. She wondered how incredibly sweet and thoughtful someone could be, considering all the drama he had been through. He made him want to get over this whole thing and move on with her life. He made him want to recover. To want to live.

He was such a beautiful human being. He was beautiful. His hands were rough, just like the lines on his face, for someone so young, he sure looked like he had lived a lot. Like her. They were equal. He had freckles all over his nose and cheeks, his rosy lips were full and his smile was heartwarming. She sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She had never been nervous around anyone before.

Finn cleared his throat; snapping Rachel back from her train of thought and making her drag her eyes up at his. Finally, he was able to look at her in the eye. Sighing, he started getting up, a shy smile on his lips.

"I gotta go now." He nodded towards the plate. "Mom needs my help washing the dishes." He began, making her look down sadly. Was he leaving already? She sighed; the thought of being alone again didn't really do much for her. She was scared. She didn't want to be left alone. Especially if being alone meant getting caught and being dragged to those horrible camps. She wouldn't want that even to her worst enemy. Why would another human being do that to their brother and sister? Weren't human rights worth something?

Nodding slightly, Rachel dragged her dead eyes down so they would stare at the floor, after all, she wouldn't be able to watch him leave her, watching herself drifting into loneliness again. Finn frowned at the way her face fell – even more so – as he mentioned he was leaving. Finn tentatively reached our for her, his cold yet friendly hand bumping lightly against her shoulder, resting on top of it with clear nervousness as he dragged his eyes up so once again, he could meet hers and he could have sworn that time, she actually allowed him to seesomething in them.

"I'll- I'll bring you dinner later, if you'd like?" He smiled weakly, almost squeezing her shoulder in comfort as she bit her lip, a broken tentative of a smile creeping on her lips as she met his gaze, her cheeks gaining color.

"T-that would be lovely."

"Fifty one, fifty two, fifty five, fifty six! Come on, four more to go!" The man's dark voice could be heard, demanding and rough. The green, cold eyes went through the field and examined every piece of it and from afar, Finn could hear the man's gnashing of teeth, the noise almost as annoying as nails scratching the board. The boy's hazel eyes looked up and as the green clashed against the brown, Finn quickly looked away, scared of making any sort of contact with that man. But wasn't their lives all based on that now? Beingscared?

His mind quickly went to Rachel. The way she always seemed to force a smile, a broken, yellow smile. How could someone be somessed up that they lost the ability to smile? No one deserved that. He knew that if he managed to rip a smile off Rachel's lips, he would manage to light up the world with it. He was sure that her smile would be the most beautiful thing in the world… Not that he had seen it yet.

"Hudson!" Finn quickly snapped out of his thoughts as his name was called, his eyes swiftly looking up in fear. He knew that Mr. Schuester could smellthe fear. The cruel green eyes stared at him with anger. "Why did you stop counting? Fifty more push-ups for you!" He pointed at Finn with anger in his voice, the boy's eyes on the ground, his shoulders heavy with humiliation.

Carole Hudson anxiously waited for her son on their front gate, eyes filled with concern as she twisted her apron again and again nervously on her hands. She hadn't heard from him and he was supposed to be home two hours ago. She wondered if he got in trouble at school, again,that is.

As she noticed a tall figure walking at the end of the street, she gasped, finally,herboywashome!Carole didn't think twice before running down the street and throwing herself in her son's arms, making him stumble lightly and hold on her tightly with a groan of pain. Finally, once his mother pulled away, she could examine his face under the sunlight, gasping at her son's face.

Finn's face was bruised: his lower lip was swollen and open, bleeding a little – but not as much as the corner of his left eye, which seemed to be beaten up with rocks, his face covered completely by scratches and his eyes were black,fists marks all over his jawline and some of his neck. Carole ran her fingertips softly on the bruised skin, making Finn wince in pain, her hand pulling away almost instantly. As she didn't want to make him feel any more pain, she pulled him by the hand and guided him inside their small house, ignoring all the glares from the neighbors.

She sat her son calmly on the wooden chair in the middle of the kitchen, heading towards the sink and soaking an old towel with hot water, her shaky hands not agreeing with her face, which seemed solid and strong as a rock. She turned off the water tap and walked towards Finn, his leg shaking nervously and his hands not calming down on the surface of the table, tapping on it slowly. His mother pressed the hot, wet fabric against his face, sighing as he pulled away lightly, not caring for the contact between his face and the hot towel. He bit his lip and slowly leaned closer to her, allowing her to touch his face like a scary child as she rubbed his cuts slowly, looking for any sign of pain on his eyes.

"What happened?" She asked once she had finished with Finn's face, washing the blood away from the towel in the sink. Finn looked at his feet, swallowing hard, suddenly feeling knots on his stomach.

"S-some jerks at school… It was no big deal, mom." He whispered, eyes glued on his shoes which seemed way more interesting for him than anything else at the moment. His mother shook her head and sighed, caressing her son's face slowly.

"You know that's not it, Finn." She kissed his forehead. "Was it a girl? Were you fighting over a girl? Was it because of the boxing?" She asked in a low voice, careful. She doesn't want to scare him away.

"No, leave me alone, please." He whispered.

"Finn-"

"They beat me, okay?" He shouted, getting off the chair and knocking it on the floor, throwing himself on the couch and hiding his face in his hands. "I had to stay after practice, Mr. Schuester said I had to work on my running a little more, so I did and then… Then these guys kept watching me on the bleachers through the whole practice and when Mr. Schuester left, they got off the bleachers and headed towards the showers with me… So I ignored them. When I was taking the shower, one of them came up behind me and kicked me in the back and then I fell on the floor – mom, it was socold,socold– and then he began yelling at me, you,youthinktheJewsarepeople,huhHudson?YouandyourmommyarefriendswiththeJewshuh?Thank-ThankGodyourdadisdeadsohedoesn'thavetobeashamedofyouandthatslutyoucallamom! He was yelling mom, yelling and then his friends kicked me some more and one of them just punched my face and next thing I know, I blacked out. I felt so useless mom. So fucking useless." He whispered, rubbing his forehead lightly, letting the tears fall free from his eyes, the hot water crashing against the feeling of his cuts.

His mom sat on his side, wrapping her arms around him shakily and rubbing his arms back and forth. Mybaby,mypoorbabyshe whispered. He cried on her shoulder and he remembered the time his daddy died at war. He was going to make him proud, he thought. For him and for his mother.

A/N: Review, please! Until next time!