Second half of a really long chapter, turned into a new chapter ;) treat for my awesome readers! Thanks everyone for the reviews!

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Chapter 7

"Okay," Rachel loomed over the cookbook. "After a half-a-cup of white sugar, I need one cup of packed brown sugar."

Packed? Finn frowned and looked at the empty cup and brown sugar bag. Why did it sound like the brown sugar was…packing up to go on vacation on something? Cookie recipes were weird. Finn successfully filled the half cup with white sugar and set it close to where Rachel was working on gathering the flour and melted butter. He knew baking was like…precise and everything. He couldn't just take all the things he needed, throw it into a bowl, stir and put it in the oven until they were round and…cookie-like.

He knew Rachel was a ninja at baking, like his mom. They both could handle any recipe, whether it was an easy five minute prep time or a hard many-level serves fifteen. It was also in the way Rachel looked when she baked. She smiled and hummed while she mixed. She breathed out—calm, not a care in the world as she poured salt on the teaspoon. They way she relaxed when she baked, it was soothing to her. The ingredients were dependable, predictable. Always measured, always correct, balanced, predictable. Always the same measureable ingredients to make the same desired outcome—time after time.

Finn's heart ached just a little. Rachel was always relaxed when baking because she could count on it to stay the same in her life, it'd never change on her since it was always so measured and certain.

He'd never been jealous of a precise one cup of brown sugar before but…he figured there was a first time for everything. He knew for certain that he was going to try and be just as dependable as these ingredients were for her. He was going to show her that he could be constant.

"Finn? Brown sugar?"

"Oh, sorry. So when you say packed…"

She smiled and took the large spoon from the counter and plunged it into the brown sugar bag, pulling out a decent clump. She dumped it into the measurement cup and pushed the spoon onto the brown sugar until it clumped together, molding it into the sides of the cup.

"It's almost like building a sandcastle." She handed him the spoon and he scooped out another clump-full of the sparkly brown sugar. He poured it into the cup and suddenly her hand was over his, fingers curling into the palm of his hand.

She squeezed his hand as she tried to guide his actions, moving his hand with hers as she showed him how to pack the sugar into the cup.

"So if you were at the beach you'd gather up the sand and pack it into a bucket, right?"

Finn managed a nod in her direction. He found it hard to concentrate on her story to help him understand why brown sugar was packing a sand castle when her warm hand was surrounding his. It was the softest thing he'd ever felt…like, when Rachel and him had visited a pet store one time on a date and Finn had held all these cute kittens. Fur all soft and fluffy. Yeah, her skin was softer than that.

Rachel smiled and let go of his hand. He tried not to look so dumbfounded. Pull yourself together, Finn. Come on. It was a harmless touch, a friendly gesture to help him understand how his hand was supposed to be positioned to pack brown sugar. He nearly rolled his eyes at himself as he scooped another helping of the shimmery brown powder out of the bag. Packing sugar wasn't rocket science, he probably could have figured out without Rachel's help. Not that he was regretting the fact that her hand had been over his or how she didn't call him stupid or give him a look of disapproval because he may not have understood simple tasks.

No, he regretted none of that. But he was going to have a hard time squashing the urge to ask her to help demonstrate things for him when his skin felt all tingly from being touched by her.

He packed the cup to the rim and set it next to her mixing bowl, luckily this recipe didn't call for a mixer. Finn wasn't exactly sure where his mom kept it. She liked to hide the baking supplies ever since he used that cookie sheet for his science class. Rachel had her lower lip between her teeth as she looked over the ingredients to see what came next.

"Does your mom like walnuts?"

Finn shook his head. "No."

She smiled. "Me neither!" Finn chuckled at how happy she seemed to have something in common with his mom. "We'll leave out the almonds then and just make original chocolate chip cookies."

Finn's stomach groaned hungrily at the idea of homemade, hot and chewy, chocolate chip cookies. When Finn had gotten the recipe book out from the cabinet, before they had started baking, Rachel and him took a few minutes to look through the recipes. What was awesome was that Rachel could basically make anything, from cherry pies to pound cakes to brownies and cookies. She flipped through the pages and had told him about times when she had made devil's food cake and pumpkin rolls and countless other baked goods. But it wasn't bragging like…in a snotty way or anything. She was just…genuinely happy when she was baking and he could feel that when she talked about it. Her happiness spread warmth throughout his body; like warming up from being out in the snow or something.

In the end they decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Rachel told him she could focus on Kurt's later tonight or in the morning. So instead Rachel wanted to make these cookies for his mom. They weren't for ballots or for prom queen but for his mom and his heart swelled at the idea that Rachel wanted to make something special for her—he actually got the feeling she was still afraid that his mom disliked her. Which was ridiculous, he told her that, but if making cookies for his mom gave Rachel some comfort about that then he wasn't going to stop her or discourage her.

"This way your mom can at least feel like she's getting something for…helping me with my prom dress." Rachel had admitted softly as Finn tied one of his mom's cooking aprons around her waist.

Finn just smiled and shook his head. Her voice was soft, uncertain…like she wasn't sure if the plan to make her a dress was still on. It was. He had mentioned it at dinner when he was "sulking" and his mom had been thrilled at the idea. He wasn't sure if it was from the idea of putting a dress together or because it was Rachel. It was probably both.

"Rachel, I told you, don't worry about it. Consider it a friend's benefit." He had winked at her and that had earned him a playful yet hard slap to his chest.

He hadn't minded though because she was giggling when her hand collided with the grey shirt. And that laugh made something spark in Finn's chest; something that went straight to his heart and then circulated everywhere—even to his toes and the tips of his fingers.

"Chocolate chips?"

Finn turned and kneeled, opening up a drawer to where his mom kept the baking stuff—like sprinkles of all shapes and sizes, vanilla extract, cinnamon and…chocolate chip cookies. He smiled and picked up the bag, closed the drawer with his foot as he stood.

Thunder pounded outside and Finn looked up as the lights flickered, popping a few chips in his mouth. He saw Rachel step closer to him as the lights went off for a second before coming back on. He tried to ignore how his heart skipped.

"Okay, we better get these in before the power goes. They need to bake for fifteen to seventeen and I still need to scoop them—Finn!"

"What?" He jumped a little as she hit his arm.

"You're eating all the chips!" She tried to sound serious but a laugh escaped her mouth.

He smiled sheepishly, mouth full. "M'sorry. I'm hungry." He swallowed and handed her the chocolate chips before he smacked her again.

She just shook her head, smiling fondly as she dumped a good amount of chips into the mixing bowl, setting them on the counter. Where Finn may or may not have been eaten more of them.

She stirred the bowl and looked at the cookie sheet. "So she hides all her baking supplies except one cookie sheet?"

Finn blushed. "Well…this one she's not worried about getting ruined. Like, we use this for everything in the oven. Pizza, French fries, chicken…cookies." He half smiled at her as he sprayed the cookie sheet with a non-stick.

"It's sad that she has to hide all her other baking supplies because she's worried about you using them in a classroom based experiment." She teased, smiling as she set the bowl down on the counter.

"I'm glad you think that's funny, Rachel."

She looked up at him and for a moment he could tell that she wasn't sure whether he was insulted or not. Before she could apologize he grabbed her sides and started tickling her.

She squealed happily and tried to move away from him but he leaned down and got a better hold of her, part of his upper body encircling hers.

"F-Finn!" She managed to choke out between monstrous giggles.

She jerked into his chest as his fingers curled in on her ribs where he knew her most ticklish spot was.

He grinned. "So you think it's funny, huh?" He chuckled over her laughs.

"No! No, stop! I'm sorry!"

"Was that a sorry I heard?" He teased.

"Yes!"

He smiled and stopped tickling her. She slumped back against his chest, panting heavily. A few random and small laughs escaped her lips every now and then as she tried to calm down. He stood behind her, having no problem at all that she was leaning against him for support; her head resting back against the space between his chest and left arm.

"You're mean." She finally said with a pout, somewhat out of breath.

She pulled away from him and he smiled, trying to ignore this annoying weight he felt by not having her so close to him anymore.

She needed to stop pouting; all he wanted to do was kiss her. He handed her the cookie scooper. "I am no such thing. You're the mean one! How many times can you jab me about my mom not trusting me with baking supplies?" He joked.

She smiled widely as she started scooping the batter in evenly sized scoops and put them on the tray. "So…where is Kurt, Burt and your mom? I'm sorry, I should have asked sooner." She licked a bit of cookie dough off the tip of her finger.

Finn watched her do it—a lot more interested than he probably should have been. He cleared his throat as she looked at him, handing him the scooper. He leaned on the counter and took a good size portion, putting it next to some of her scoops.

"Are they alright?" She asked softly. He was a bit confused by her tone. Why did she sound upset? He took another scoop.

"Oh, yeah, they're fine." He reassured her. The way she was looking at the counter really unsettled him. "Kurt's at Blaine's watching a movie and my mom and Burt are looking for new furniture for the living room."

She nodded softly and played with the clip that kept the chocolate chip bag closed while in the drawer. Finn finished up the remaining batter and set it onto the tray. The tray was completely covered with chocolate chip cookie batter. His stomach growled again. God he couldn't wait to eat the hell out of these things.

After he set the tray in the oven and took the oven mitts off, he turned to look at Rachel. She had grown quiet all of a sudden and Finn's eyebrows shifted together in worry and confusion.

"You okay?" He asked softly. She looked up at him and smiled softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Why did she always have to hide how she felt from him? She wasn't fine. She clearly wasn't. And yet she put on a fake smile and ate a few of the chocolate chips and that was that—sadness gone from her eyes and voice.

He just smiled and swallowed, setting the timer on the stove. She could try and hide what was wrong all she wanted. But Finn was going to figure out what was wrong. And he was determined to get her to open up to him before she left today.

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According to the news, the storm booming and blowing outside his house was one of the worst Lima had seen since, like, 2008. He couldn't exactly remember what storm they were talking about but it must have been pretty bad because they were telling people to stay in their homes and away from the windows. He had texted his mom to make sure her and Burt were alright—they were fine, holding out inside the furniture store, waiting for it to calm down. Finn wondered if it would be by tonight, the weathermen were calling for it to continue into tomorrow morning. Though honestly? What the hell did those assclowns know? They were always getting shit wrong.

Rachel came in from the kitchen and sat down next to him on the couch. She brought her legs up and shifted her knees to rest against her chest.

"Cookies are done. I turned the oven off and set the cookies on the counter to cool."

Finn nodded. "Did you call your dads?"

She nodded back at him, pulling the sleeves of his oversized sweatshirt over her hands. "Yep, they're both fine." She looked at the TV screen and bit her lower lip. "Sam texted me to make sure I was alright and everything."

Did she tell him where she was? Whose house she was safe at? She probably hasn't—seeing as how I can't even handle how Quinn would react if she knew Rachel was here. He could totally see Sam braving the rain and bad weather just to get Rachel out of his house.

"Is Quinn okay?"

Whoops. He knew he should have been doing something instead of just watching the news.

"Yeah, she's fine." He was sure she was because he knew he'd be hearing about it from her if she wasn't. Quinn sure as hell wasn't going out anywhere today…no course not, she left that all up to him.

She smiled softly. "Good."

Lightning flashed outside and thunder crackled. Rachel gasped and jumped a little, bumping into him, as the power flickered and then went out. The room plunged into darkness.

He smiled as her hand instantly searched for his, grabbing his forearm before finally finding his hand. He chuckled and put his other hand over both of their hands. "Hey, relax. It's okay. I'm going to go look for candles…I think we have a few either in the basement or kitchen."

"No!" Her hand squeezed Finn's tightly as he started to get up. He turned his head to look at her but it was useless with the lights out and the storm making the sky practically black outside, he couldn't even make out her form. "Could I accompany you?"

"Rach, you remember how uneven my basement steps are? I don't want you to trip."

"I am perfectly able to walk down steps, Finn."

Was it odd that he was fond of her stubbornness? He shook her hand a little. "I don't want you to get hurt." She was quiet then and he squeezed her hand. "What, are you scared of the dark or the storm?"

She scoffed. "That is a completely childish notion." Although her answer told him that she was actually afraid and just too embarrassed to admit it.

Lightening flashed; lighting up her face for a brief moment—then a thunderous boom shook the house. "You know it's perfectly okay if you are…everyone is afraid of something."

Rachel hesitated. "You don't…think it's rather ridiculous?"

He smiled. "No, not at all."

"You have to understand…" She said quietly, the sound of rain almost drowning her out. "I had a bad experience."

Finn nodded in understanding even though she couldn't see him. He stood and tugged her up, making sure she was close to him as they headed into the kitchen. He knew where everything was even in the dark since it was his house and he had bumped into the kitchen island enough times to make sure he didn't run into that when he searched the drawers for matches and candles. When he finally found the matches and a few candles under the sink, Finn handed a few to Rachel and carried some himself. He bit his lip as he had to let go of her had to juggle the candles and matches in his arms.

"Hold onto the back of my shirt."

He waited until he felt her small hand latch onto the fabric before walking to the living room again. He set the candles down on the coffee table and carefully lit all of them. He scattered the candles around the room to create an eerie but at least semi-bright as Rachel sat down on the couch. He could see her again and smiled a little as she brought her knees back up to her chest, sitting in the same position she was in before the power went out.

Finn made sure all the candles were on something secure and then sat down next to Rachel. He sat a bit closer to her than he had before and her leg softly rested against his right arm. He smiled at her, ruffling her hair.

She smiled and pushed his hand away. "Hey!"

Finn laughed. "There's no one to impress here, Miss Berry."

She bit her lip in the cutest way and flattened down her hair. "Maybe I'm trying to impress you." Rachel winked and he smirked.

Finn couldn't help but feel like that was partly true, even though she was joking and sounded a bit insecure while saying it. And he wanted to tell her that she didn't have to waste her time trying…because she impressed him every single day. Whether it was with how smart she was, how determined, passionate, unique…beautiful or talented. She didn't have to try and do anything like that. She had already hooked him; he was already impressed and in love with her in every single way.

"You don't have to try, Rachel." He said seriously and a small smile appeared on her lips.

He could tell she was blushing even in the semi-dark room. Finn knew she thought she did have to try, twice as hard and everything, to just get by because no one thought she was talented enough or pretty enough. He knew she compared herself to Quinn, he heard it more times than he liked when they were dating…and when they were falling apart. She compared herself to Quinn and Santana and…God, it irritated the crap out of him because…didn't she understand that she didn't compare to them. She was so much better than those two; they were the ones that didn't compare to her. Not the other way around.

She jumped as thunder roared outside and Finn scooted closer, putting an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her into him a little and she resisted.

"Finn, you don't have to…"

"Shh," He said softly. "Come on, let me do this."

She licked her lips and nodded softly, leaning into his side. "What friends are for right?"

He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, if I can't protect you from lightening and hail, what can I do, right?"

She smiled widely. "You've already done more than enough with this whole…baking idea and offering up your mom to help me with my prom dress."

Finn smiled softly. "You can have my mom whenever you need her. I know you miss yours sometimes."

Rachel shrugged softly; her shoulder grazed his side as she did so. "I miss…the idea of her, you know? I didn't have a mom for such a long time…having one around was such a nice idea. Not that my dads aren't wonderful—"

"No, I know," He assured her. He understood where she was coming from. He missed having a dad figure around too but it wasn't like he thought his mom did a bad job bringing him up by herself.

She smiled and they were silent for a moment, listening to the rain pelt the roof…or maybe that was hail. He looked at the time and wondered if Rachel's dads would want her home at any certain time…or if they'd want her to stay here until the worse of the storm was over.

Before he could ask Rachel said something about the storm. He wasn't sure what though so he leaned his head down a little.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, I was just saying…the bad experience I had, I was eight and the storm outside wasn't as bad as this one but…" She bit her lip. "You're going to think I'm ridiculous."

He smiled softly. "Try me." He squeezed around her shoulders.

She bit her lip. "Do you remember Puck's birthday party? His ninth one?"

Finn squint his eyes like that would try and help him remember or something. He…vaguely remembered something at Puck's house. His mom had made cookie-cake (which was a friggin brilliant invention if you asked him) and he remembered Quinn had on this blue jean dress. Had Rachel been there? He tried to scan his memory, trying to remember a cute little eight-year-old Rachel, with like bows in her hair and probably a checkered dress with a cow on it or something.

He felt really, really bad asking this. "You were there?"

She frowned softly. "I'm not surprised you don't remember…uhm, well the storm was so bad and the lights went out. Puck and a bunch of his shenanigan friends decided it would be funny to try and scare me."

Finn sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He hadn't noticed it then…but Rachel had been getting tortured by people he knew and trusted, were friends with, even before high school. He felt a little sick inside. At least he was ninety-eight percent certain that he had nothing to do with what Puck and his other friends had done. He remembered his mom having to pick him up early from Puck's house because he had to wake up early for a doctor's appointment the next morning.

"Quinn took my hand and," Her voice grew so quiet.

Finn opened his eyes to look at her and swallowed. She looked down at her lap. This was obviously an upsetting experience for her…he felt so awful that people put her through this crap. It wasn't fair. What gave Quinn and Puck the right to torture her like that? He suddenly understood why Sam had gotten so angry at him in the parking lot last night.

"She was pretending to be my friend and everything. She said we could go find flashlights. I told her that I was sure Puck's mom could handle it but she tugged me along anyways. So we ended up in the kitchen and…"

Finn rubbed her shoulder softly.

She sighed and shook her head, trying to brush it off with a laugh. "It all seems rather silly now, they just scared me." She tried to pretend like the situation didn't really bother her but he could tell it did. "Puck and his friends just came at me all at once in the dark and scared me…and I think someone spilled pop all over my dress." She frowned and looked up at him. "I really loved that dress. It was white with a cat on it…my dads never got the stain out."

"So ever since then you've been scared of storms?"

She blushed. "Well…kind of. And that movie you made me watch when we had one of our movie nights…?"

Finn bit his lip to hold back laughter. "Which one was that?"

"The scary one, I don't remember it's title!"

Finn laughed. "Rach, it was just a movie. There is no ax-murderer outside ready to get us because all the lights are out from the storm."

"You don't know that!" Her body jerked up as she heard pounding from outside. It was most likely one of the neighbor's garage cans toppling over from the wind.

He held her body so that she didn't get up from the couch. "Actually I do. Why would an ax-murderer choose to take out his crazy on Lima…and us for that matter?"

That made her laugh and settle a bit next to him. "I don't know…I think about these things, Finn. Stop laughing at me!"

He put his hand over his mouth. "I'm sorry." A few chuckles still escaped and she shook her head, smiling and embarrassed.

"I never should have told you."

Finn smiled. "No, I'm glad you told me. Lemme just go my battering ram to defend you in case the ax-murderer makes his way into the house…"

She shoved him and he smirked, leaning back up as she pouted. "I'm glad you see my fear of storms comical, Finn Hudson."

"Hey, don't give me that pout. You totally made fun of me when I told you I was afraid of that man dressed up as the Easter Bunny at the mall!"

She smiled slowly. "You were five!"

Finn frowned. "It still creeps me out…like, who decides that they want to dress up as an Easter bunny for a job? Something is just not right there…"

Rachel giggled and shook her head, she rubbed her hands together and turned to look at the candles, flickering shadows along the walls. Finn winced as his stomach growled again, angry at him for not feeding it sooner. He had actually forgotten how hungry he was when hanging out with Rachel.

"We should try some of those cookies." Rachel smiled as she heard Finn's stomach growl.

She stood to go get them and he shook his head. "I'll go."

He stood and took one of the candles from the table and went into the kitchen, grabbing a few napkins and two perfectly sized chocolate chip cookies.

Finn walked back into the living room and sat down next to her again, handing her a cookie with a napkin. He set the candle back down and took a bite out of his cookie. He couldn't help but moan.

"Oh, god. These are so good!"

Rachel grinned, proud. "I'm glad you like them." She took a bite of her own cookie, chocolate smearing on her lower lip.

"You got some chocolate on your lip."

She wiped the wrong side of her mouth and he smirked softly, lifting up his hand and running his thumb over her lower lip. "Right…there." He whispered, picking up the traces of the chocolate.

She swallowed and seemed to freeze in place as he ran his thumb over her lower lip. She suddenly looked uncomfortable and tense, he could feel it as his skin touched hers. He instantly pulled his hand back.

"Sorry." He apologized, looking at his cookie.

She shook her head and leaned back against the couch. "It can't happen again like this, Finn." She told him softly, her tongue running over the place where his thumb just was. "We're both involved and…"

"No you're right. I'm with Quinn and you're with Sam and we're both…happy." He wasn't happy. And he wasn't going to pretend like he actually was. But Rachel was, and he could see that. So he wasn't going to fuck that up for her. She didn't deserve to be screwed with. He had done that to her too much in the past.

She nodded softly as she finished her cookie and leaned into his side as lightening flashed outside, illuminating the living room.

"I'm glad we're friends though, Finn. You have no idea how much it means to me."

He figured he had an idea though, because she had no idea how much it meant to him either. "Me too."

He looked out the window as rain hit against the screen. He sighed and shook his head. "Hey, did your dads happen to mention if they wanted you home at any certain time? I know it's like…really bad out and the roads might be flooded but I can try and drive you home if need be."

She shook her head and looked down. "No, uhm…they're not expecting me at home anytime soon. They're not even there."

Finn nodded slowly. "Oh, they out too like my mom and Burt? Buying new table clothes for the dining room?" He joked. "I know the last time I was over they were talking about re-decorating."

She pulled away from him a little and…almost sound annoyed. "No, Finn. And that was a long time ago."

Finn tensed as she pulled away and a sickening feeling filled the pit of his stomach. Had he said something wrong?

"Right…yeah, I know. I was just saying." He looked away and set the remaining napkins on the table. "Because I offered to help paint the dining room that...odd rose color your one dad liked," Which one had that been? Hiram or Leroy? "And if you want to let them know that if they still need a painter, I'm available."

He smiled softly as he remembered how excited Rachel had been the first time he offered that to her dads. She had kissed him and told him she wanted to help too. Which was adorable and hot all at once. All he could think about was Rachel in braided pigtails getting…paint smears on her skin and little jean shorts.

She shook her head and sighed softly. "I don't think that's going to happen."

Okay, now Finn was really getting worried over the sudden mood change. "Why not? I thought we were friends and everything…"

"This isn't about you, Finn."

He sighed, frustrated. "Then what is it about! I know your dads didn't like me as much as they probably like Sam—"

"What? That has nothing to do with—"

"And I know I was awkward and all terrified and everything when I first met them. I barely spoke and was jittery and they probably thought I had a mental disability or some odd coffee addiction but I warmed up! Mr. Hiram got to know me and my mom and I know Mr. Leroy probably is still glaring at pictures of me and wanting to lecture me on how to treat you and that's fine, he loves you and wanted me to respect you—"

He was rambling and he was pretty sure he wasn't making sense but…he needed to get this out there. Finn hadn't realized that this had been building up for quite some time; he guessed a little part of it had even been there when they were dating.

"But I still want to help paint that goddamn—"

"Can you do it without the brash language?"

"—dining room! I think I was finally making some headway with them and…everything got screwed up. I don't want to lose that, Rachel." He may not have been close with her parents like Rachel was with his mom but he could tell Hiram and Leroy would be there for Finn if he needed someone…even though Leroy always looked at him like he wanted to deep-fry him alive or something.

Rachel looked at him a long moment before her lip started to wobble, her eyes filling with hot beads of water. She looked down and shook her head.

"F-Finn…"

All he could do was stare at her, his throat closing up at how broken she'd become. Was this all because he was a moron at communicating or something? What he had said was supposed to sound better than it did…

Fuck. He sighed. "Rachel, I'm—"

Her voice was choked and pained as she cut him off. "My dad is sick." And by the tone of her voice he knew she wasn't talking about a simple cold.

Finn swore his heart stopped. She had been getting so upset since he kept talking about her fathers he…he thought he was just being too hasty about wanting to become a solid part in her life again. Which is what he had been trying to say to her and it came out all jumbled and rushed and ridiculous sounding. It wasn't really about the friggin paint and the dining room. He wanted to be closer to her fathers and closer to her. Because that's when he had felt like he belonged somewhere. With her at those damn uncomfortable family dinners where Hiram asked him about school and Leroy gave him glaring looks.

But one of them was sick…like, really sick? The past few weeks came swarming back. Rachel was working at Sheets n Things…because she needed the money and that's how Sam knew what was going on…because she told him and he helped her find a job. And that's why he was so protective of her lately; he was a nice guy and didn't want her to suffer any more than she already was. She was emotionally screwed up lately, quiet in glee, wearing sweatpants to school, that's why she was crying to Sam in the locker room and why she needed to go to the hospital…everything fell into place.

Finn didn't know what to say. Because seriously, how was someone supposed to respond in a situation like this? No words fit; nothing described how awful he felt for Rachel and for her dads and nothing said how sorry he was that awful things like this decided to happen to good people who didn't deserve it.

He didn't even have the heart to ask her which one of her dads was ill. He just shook his head and gathered Rachel into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest as the damn broke and her sobs filled the room. He felt her tears soak into his grey t-shirt and her one arm wrap around his stomach. Finn's arms squeezed her small body softly as he rested his nose and lips against her head, breathing in the scent of her warm vanilla shampoo. Her body shook his with the force of her sobs and all he could do was close his eyes and wait until she finished crying.

He remembered her saying this one time…how crying was supposed to be, like, therapeutic or something but he hadn't wanted this from her. He wanted her to open up and let him in but not at the expense of her totally breaking down on him. Finn just felt like he was hurting her more than helping.

He sighed softly and pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch, wrapping it around her body as she continued to cry against him. He started rubbing circles on her upper back, pausing so his fingers pushed a little into her skin.

"Shhh…" He tried.

"Finn." The sobs strangled her pretty voice. It squeezed Finn's heart to hear so much pain in her as she spoke.

"I'm right here," He assured her. "I got you."

She sniffled and managed a small nod into his chest before another sob took her over. He held her even closer if that was possible.

He had wanted this, right? Finn had wanted her to open up to him, to tell him about that something that had been clearly bothering her. He guessed he just hadn't considered how painful that something was.

Finn ran his nose through her hair, his hand stroking up and down her spine. Yeah, he got her and he wasn't letting go until she felt better or stopped crying. He told her and promised himself that he'd be there for her. Finn was determined to help her through this.

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I hope everyone enjoyed! A lot for one day! Thanks for everyone who reviews and likes the story :)