I watch you spin around in your highest heels
You are the best one of the best ones

He needs to come up with a plan, but plans aren't really his strong suit (Puck's usually the one that does the thinking, but he's usually the man that does everything else too). He thinks about asking Rachel, but she keeps falling in and out of consciousness, and he's trying to stay as calm as he can (she shouldn't be doing that, he knows that much, but until he gets her out, there's nothing he can do).

So he sits with her and strokes her hair, and whispers condoling words into her ears as she falls asleep. He doesn't move, but holds her close to him, hoping that he'll be able to think of something in the meantime.

An hour passes before she wakes, and he runs a careful finger across her cheek as he gives her a sad smile. "I need to go and make up an excuse for why I'm in here, okay?" Rachel doesn't respond, and only lulls her head against him as she lets out a pained whimper, and he has to take that as a yes. "I'm gonna go, but Rachel, I promise I'll be back."

"I know you will," she breathes, and he holds her tight and kisses her hair. "It hurts, Finn."

"I know baby." He has to go, no matter how much he wants to stay, 'cause he has to sort things out with Puck to keep her safe. As carefully as he can, Finn picks her up and lifts her onto the sorry excuse for a mattress in the room. He wants to tell her everything will be okay, except he has no idea if it's true.

"See you soon Rach." And through his tears, and through hers too, he can see her smile briefly before she falls asleep.

He misses Brittany and Santana for whatever reason, and he thinks that if they were still around, they'd be able to make Puck see sense. Now that Quinn's in the picture, he's different somehow, as if she's goading him to embrace his dark side or whatever.

Finn locks the door behind him in second nature before he readies himself for whatever's coming. It's gotta be pretty obvious that he's crossed the 'don't fall for your fucking hostage' line, but either way, he needs to clear the air and set some ground rules (not that he has any authority whatsoever over Puck).

He stumbles into the room where they sit and talk and sleep and eat, and it only just dawns on him how much pain he's in after their little stunt.

He walks in on Puck laughing with Quinn (he feels some kind of victory when he sees him sporting a black eye), and he doesn't know where to start, or even to finish.

"What the fuck has gotten into you, man?"

Those are Puck's words, not his, and it catches him off guard before he gets the chance to go on his own offensive.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Quinn smirks at Puck in an unnecessarily smug way, and Finn balls his hands into fits. She may have conveniently forgotten, but this girl still tortured Rachel, and still did so with a frickin' smile on her face, so he doesn't trust her, not one bit.

"When did you get all weird about chicks?"

"Uh..." He shakes his head and licks his lips 'cause he's not sure how to respond to that. Puck gives him an incredulous look that clearly says 'what happened to my brother?', and he doesn't know how to respond to that either.

"For as long as I've known you, you've never given a crap about girls, and not even that hot one who was on the cheerleading squad who wanted you."

He faintly remembers her, the feisty blonde who'd left an unwanted hickey on his neck, and he faintly remembers her slapping him when he refused to take her out to Breadstix.

"What's your point?"

Puck stands up so they're sort of eye to eye (the dude's always been shorter). "My point, Hudson, is that you've managed to go all this time without a chick, showing no interest at anyone who flashed you a bit of flesh, and the one fucking girl you can't touch turns out to be your Achilles' heel or something!"

Finn's never understood that saying (he can't remember which guy Achilles is; is he the one who had a flying horse?), but he knows what Puck's trying to say, and yeah, it kinda looks bad/pretty terrible in every way. Still, it's not like he volunteered to fall for Rachel just to spite everyone.

"I still don't get your point!" He throws his arms in the air and regrets it instantly when his stomach clenches uncomfortably.

"My point," Puck says slowly, "is that there must be a reason you're acting like this. I get that you have trouble with some of the shit we do, but we do it for a reason, to keep our families safe, and even you should be able to get over this hero crap long enough for us to get our money."

"I know, I know but... I love her."

"Dude." Puck shakes his head and has the balls to laugh, but none of this is a laughing matter.

"I need to help her, and we can't hurt her anymore."

Quinn's about to protest when they hear yells coming from Rachel's room, and fuck fuck fuck, what if she's dying or something? He doesn't say anything as he runs away and barges in, and Finn half expects her to be surrounded by a pool of her own blood. Instead, though she looks extremely pale and shaky, she seems to be okay.

"I want to talk to Puck," she says quietly and deliberately, like she's having a hard time concentrating on words; he almost asks her to repeat it because he can't have heard her right.

"P-Puck? Why?"

"It'll be easier if he's here, and then I can talk to you both." She attempts to stand up but topples over weakly, and in an instant, Finn's by her side to lift her back onto the mattress.

"Okay," he whispers, and he presses a brief kiss to her hair. "I'll do my best."

"I know you will." She gives him a brief smile while he wonders if that's her new catch phrase, and then her eyes slowly close, and Finn leaves with an insanely jealous, uncomfortable tug in his stomach.

"What'd she want?"

"You."

Puck's eyes widen at the same time that Quinn's narrow, and neither of them say anything for a while.

"How exactly?"

"She wants to talk to you." He says it through gritted teeth 'cause this guy just tortured her, and now she wants to sit and talk like best buds?

"Might as well listen to what she has to say." Puck stands up and cracks his knuckles in a way that makes Finn wince, and grabbing his ski mask thing, he makes his way to the room and pushes the door open, Quinn and Finn close behind.

Rachel opens her eyes and sucks in a painful breath before she nods to herself. "Just Finn and Puck, please."

He's not sure who looks angrier. Quinn's glaring in an unashamedly malicious way and Puck's neck vein is fit to burst at the realisation that Rachel knows his name; oops.

"No, I demand that-"

"Go, Q."

She doesn't protest when Puck uses his 'fuck with me and you'll regret it' voice, but she shoots Finn a deadly glare and closes the door behind them, leaving the two boys staring down at Rachel, who's managed to sit up on the mattress.

"There's a problem with the ransom, isn't there?"

"None of your business," snarls Puck, but Finn nods anyway.

"Yeah, there is."

That gets him a numbing punch on the arm. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Thank you Finn," Rachel says weakly, and she flashes him a split second smile that gives him butterflies. "Care to enlighten me as to how much your boss is trying to acquire?"

"Three-"

"Can it Hudson!"

Puck notices his slip at the same time as Rachel, and giving him credit, he does look suitably mortified.

"Finn Hudson," she says slowly, and then she smiles again, "it suits you. Do you have a middle name?"

"No, he-"

"Christopher."

"Dude!"

"I trust her." He flashes her a grin. "He's asking for three million."

Puck hangs his head in his hands, sure that they're screwed. The girl knows everything and there's pretty much zero hope for them now.

"Three million? I understand why I've been here so long."

"Because your parents are tight asses?" Puck quips, and even though she's in pain, she manages to roll her eyes.

"Language, please. No, it's nothing of the sort, and I have to say, I'm a little relieved that they haven't forgotten about me."

"Rach?" Finn offers softly, and she sighs to herself.

"They don't have that sort of capital available, not anymore, and at least not in an accessible way; most of it is tied up in property and investments."

Puck and Finn stare at each other in shock, and not just because Rachel uses a lot of big words; what the hell is she going on about?

"What does that mean, Berry?"

"Without getting into the unpleasant specifics, my daddy's good for nothing father appeared one day to forgive his son for 'living in homosexual sin and disgrace'." Disdain seeps from every syllable and Finn nods, though he's not sure why.

"I don't wanna know your fuckin' life story."

"Language," she chastises again, and she rolls her eyes once more before looking to Finn. "Your best friend is very uncivilised."

"I oughta-"

Rachel manages a grin while Finn stifles a laugh, and for the first time, Puck loosens up a little and releases a snort. "Alright, whatever, carry on."

"What's the magic word?" she teases, and God, she's so amazing, Finn can't get over that.

"Bite me."

"Getting warmer."

"Fine; please." He shoots Finn a glare when he can't stop himself from laughing, but then Rachel's talking again so the two stay quiet, even if Puck wants to curse his best friend out.

"My grandpa only came back to get money from my family, and though my dad was sceptical about the man's new found acceptance, oh, my daddy was so happy and oblivious to his father's falsified intentions." She looks down sadly at her hands, and Finn knows where this is going. "He wormed his way into the heart of our family, and before we knew it, he was gone, and he'd somehow managed to empty my daddy's bank account."

"How much?" croaks Puck, and Finn unconsciously licks his dry lips in anticipation.

"Five million dollars," Rachel says, not even blinking at the intense amount. "Luckily, my dad had a separate account for emergencies that contained enough to keep us comfortable, but we're not as wealthy as we once were."

"Shit," breathes Puck, and yeah, shit indeed, this changes everything.

"I have a proposition though," she squeaks, and both boys are caught off guard; there's more? "Even if my parents could pay the ransom amount, the two of you would receive a mere fraction of this, right?"

Puck falters. "Y-yeah, two hundred thousand, split down the middle."

"Rachel, where is this going?"

She rubs anxiously at her scratch covered arms before she purses her lips. "What if we could make a deal? You could release me for a smaller amount than what your boss is asking, but it would mean more money for the two of you."

What?

"I don't get it," Finn admits, and instead of looking frustrated or annoyed or something, Rachel just smiles kindly at him.

"Your boss is making you the do the dirty work, putting you in constant danger, and yet you're happy to take a small amount of the profit?" She looks to Puck. "Did your boss happen to say if my dads offered a lower amount?"

"No."

"Yeah!" Finn says eagerly. "He did; I talked to him, and he said they could spare one million dollars."

"That's more realistic," she says with a nod. "That would mean half a million for the both of you, and I promise not to turn you in."

Puck's jaw hits the ground, though whether it's at the money or the security, Finn doesn't know. "You're serious? You're willing to work with us, get us more money and protect us from the cops? Why?"

She turns to Finn, the widest smile he's ever seen on her face, and that's why, he's why, and God, he-

"I love you," he blurts out, and her smile gets even wider.

"I love you too Finn."

Puck smacks a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Hold up, hold up."

If the guy wasn't in the room, Finn would have jumped her bones there and then, but he has to be content with grinning like a loser instead.

"Yes?"

"I just tortured you, and Finn hurt you the other day... Am I supposed to believe that it doesn't bother you, and that we're allowed to trust you?"

She furrows her brow and looks to Finn for help. "Finn didn't hurt me, the blonde girl did."

"No, not that, I'm talking about the bra."

Thump thump thump thump; his heart is so loud in his ears that he's surprised that Puck and Rachel can't hear it.

"The bra?"

"Well yeah, he made you bleed on your goddamn bra; get with the program."

"Um, no, he didn't."

Two pairs of eyes bore into him, but it's not like it's a big deal, is it? He just did it so he wouldn't have to hurt Rachel.

"Actually man, I just... I cut myself and uh, put my blood on the bra."

It's Rachel's cry of 'Finn!' that alerts him and makes him duck before Puck's fist can collide with his nose. "You fucking idiot!" he screeches, and God, why is he so pissed?

"I didn't want to hurt her! I don't-"

"They'll know it's yours," Rachel whispers, and silent tears stream down her cheeks.

"W-what?"

"DNA you dumbass!"

It clicks at once, and Finn pukes there and then (though considering he hasn't eaten properly in days, only bile stings the back of his throat).

He's a moron; how could he not have thought of that?

The more he thinks about it, the more obvious it becomes, and holy crap, he's such an idiot.

"W-wait, don't they need a sample from me already or something? I-I've never been in trouble with the police before, so it's not as if they have me on record... right?"

Rachel sniffs, though manages a nod. "That's true but... you should have just let me it; I wouldn't have judged you."

"Pansy assed-"

Finn swings at Puck but purposefully misses (he just needs to make a point, that's all).

"Either way, you two need to-"

"No..."

Cut off midsentence, Rachel's eyes widen in fear. "Finn, what is it?"

"My mom," he chokes out, and Puck looks to Rachel for some sort of help, but she doesn't know what's wrong either. "You said they took my mom into custody. What if... What if they compare the DNA or something? Won't it be similar? Like, won't they know we're related?"

Puck grabs the only chair in the room and slumps down onto it as he holds his head. "Fucking hell, I never thought of that."

"You need to make a decision and fast," Rachel says quickly, and she gives Finn a sympathetic look, one that says 'we'll talk about your mother later'. "There's no way my dads can offer more than one million in exchange for me, and it seems your boss is getting desperate." She glances briefly down at her arms, and Finn sees Puck gulp in response. "If they have associated you with the abduction, Finn, it means your time is limited anyway." She sucks in a breath timidly. "I want to see your face, Puck. You can trust me, and I don't like it when you wear that."

Finn expects him to protest and tell her to get lost (or possibly something a little more crude), but after only hesitating for a second, he pulls the mask away from his face, avoiding Rachel's inquisitive gaze. She says nothing (why would she?) and simply nods.

"Thank you. So, what do you say?"

The two best friends glance at each other, and she's right, she is. Half a million each... That would get them out of Lima and set them up comfortably, and she's gonna protect them (Puck's not so sure but Finn doesn't doubt her at all).

"You're okay with me walking free, after the shit I've done to you?"

Rachel shrugs with a tiny smile. "You care a lot about your family, which is commendable."

He opens and closes his mouth, and somehow at this knowledge, his expression softens slightly. "Things have been rough, and-"

"It's okay," she promises. "I understand, and we all do things we regret. I once sent a girl to a crack house because I was threatened by her singing talent."

Finn laughs while Puck manages a proud smirk, and he nods. "Deal, Berry."

"What about the blonde girl?" Her smile fades at the same time that Finn's does. "I don't trust her, and I'm worried that she might betray you both."

"Quinn's fine," Puck says firmly, as if he doesn't want anyone to challenge him, "I can vouch for her."

"You've known her for five minutes."

"And you've known Berry for less than a week, yet you've already declared your love!" Puck grits his teeth. "If we're doing this, Q is in on it too, and she can share some of my half."

Finn ignores his friend because Rachel looks alarmingly weak again, and knowing that they're really going to do this, he can take her into the other room so she can have something to eat. He carefully picks her up, and she instantly rests her head against his chest with a soft sigh, and yeah, he's not mistaken, he loves her. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know her favourite colour, or if she's allergic to anything, or if she's ever broken any bones; these are all things he's excited about learning, and he loves her heart, so the rest will come with time (if they can make it out of this thing alive).

"I'll make you some soup," he whispers in her ear, and she smiles appreciatively and makes a cute snuffly noise.

"Thank you Finn." They have a first aid kit in their living room/bedroom/everything, and when she's eaten, he'll try and tend to her wounds again.

Quinn unsurprisingly goes crazy when she sees him holding Rachel, and she grabs the nearest thing to her, which happens to be Finn's favourite plastic Lion King plate (he's a sap, okay? He brought it with him for sentimental reasons), and holds it in the air menacingly.

"What is she doing in here? Puck, Finn has the girl, he has Berry!"

Puck follows him in and Finn watches as he gives her one of his many patented looks; this one, with a slightly menacing furrow of his eyebrows, means 'bitch please, don't you know I have this all under control?' Quinn is new though, and she clearly doesn't understand the silence because she throws the plate at Rachel, and Finn ducks in response. Instead of hitting her, it bounces off his cheek and fuck, that hurts more than you'd think.

"Will you just calm down a minute? Ow, that really kills." He regrets saying that as soon as Rachel gives him her own look, and roughly translates it means 'I was tortured for the second time today, and you're complaining because a plastic plate hit your cheek?' He sits down, Rachel in his lap, and kisses her in response, and that look melts away until it becomes one of pleasure, and Finn easily tunes out the mad shrieking of Quinn in the background.

"Alright you two, get a room, we have work to do."

Reluctantly they both pull away, their cheeks flushed, and Rachel flashes him an embarrassed smile that makes his stomach ache for more.

"What the hell is going on?"

"We're ditching the boss and taking the money her dads offered." Puck heats up a teapot while Finn strokes Rachel's hair, and Quinn looks back and forth between them.

"You think it's going to be that easy? He's not going to let you get away with that!"

"How do you know if you can't remember him?" asks Finn sullenly, and Quinn rolls her eyes.

"I don't need to remember to know that all men like that are the same. He'll be out of nearly three million dollars, and you think he's just going to let you escape?"

"She's right Finn," whispers Rachel worriedly. "I didn't think of that, and I don't want to put you both in danger."

"We're doing this," barks Puck, and none of them say anything as he pours himself a cup of coffee. Finn takes the opportunity to heat up some soup, and while he's busy, Quinn, surprisingly, helps Rachel with her various wounds, not responding to the numerous thank you's from the small girl.

It's gonna be tough but together, they might be able to pull this off.

Glee!

"Hey Berry, can I have a word?"

Rachel raises an eyebrow in curiosity, and she doesn't miss the way Finn stiffens underneath her (she's claimed his lap as her own, and he makes a very comfortable place to sit).

"Of course."

"Can it.. I need it to be private, just you and me."

Quinn, who was humming a disjointed tune while reading a magazine, pauses at the same time that Finn sucks in a breath.

"Alone?" he says, trying to keep his cool, and Rachel feels him tighten his grip on the hand he's been holding protectively.

"I'm not gonna try anything or whatever, and you can sit outside the room if you want, you know, if she screams for help." He smirks, but Finn doesn't return the gesture.

"It's up to Rachel."

She gulps a little and her eyelids flicker. She doesn't trust Puck completely and she doesn't want to hurt Finn, but she knows it must be of some importance, and so she nods once, and Finn sighs, resigned.

"I love you," she whispers to him as she presses a lingering kiss to his lips, and even if he's not happy with this, he believes her at least, she can see the shine in his eyes.

He helps her out of his lap and squeezes her hand one last time before she follows Puck out of the room, and into one that she's never seen before. The base isn't very big and only has minimal facilities, and as she steps inside, she notices the washing machines and driers; it was obviously once a laundry room.

From out of nowhere, Puck produces a chair and offers it to her, and Rachel smiles slightly and sits down, waiting for him to talk. He leans against an old drier and crosses his arms, muttering something to himself, before he clears his throat.

"I need to get a few things off my chest." He doesn't wait for a response, or maybe he doesn't dare, because he grits his teeth and furrows his brow and he briefly licks his lips before he has the confidence to look at her. "I'm not a bad guy."

Rachel can't help the way her eyebrow quips in surprise. Of everything she expected him to say, this seems the most unlikely, and she's unsure of how to respond. Unfortunately, he seems to take her silence as disbelief, and he balls his hands into angry, frustrated fists.

"You don't know how fucking lucky you are. I bet there hasn't been one day in your perfect life when you've had to worry about anyone but yourself."

She knows better than to get upset. She understands his bitterness, having seen it first hand in Finn, and she doesn't blame him. "That's true," she says lightly, "but it isn't my fault, though yes, it has something to do with luck." She tilts her head as she watches him, intrigued. She knows little about Puck, since Finn didn't exactly spend their limited time together talking about him. Either way, despite their differences, she can see that the two of them love each other like brothers, and that's nice. "You're lucky too though."

He snorts. "How do you figure that?"

"You have a brother, and a younger sister if I'm not mistaken. Finn loves you very much."

For a second, Puck allows himself to smile, though it's soon replaced by a hardened frown. "It's for my sister that I'm doing this, and my mom." He clears his throat and gives her the once over before he clears his throat again. "You Jewish?"

"Is my nose that much of a giveaway?" He shrugs and she nods. "Yes, and proudly so."

"It makes me hate you a little less," he admits, and they somehow share an awkward laugh. "I never meant it to get this far. I figured we'd just have to scare you a bit before handing you over straight away. The torturing though..." He trails off and shakes his head, and Rachel smiles to herself; he's apologising, or as close as he can get.

"I understand."

"I don't get why you do, or why you claim to love Finn." He holds up his hands. "Don't get me wrong, Hudson's my honorary brother and I'd die for him, but you honestly expect me to believe you've fallen for him so easily? He kidnapped you and, let's face it, the dude's got no game."

She smiles as she bites her lip. "I can't explain my feelings for him anymore than you can tell me why you're so besotted with Quinn."

"I'm not- Whatever. Point is, I don't want you breaking his heart. He's tall, but he's fragile."

"Noted," she says softly, and he clears his throat for a third time.

"I brought you here to... Look, I'm, we're... We're desperate. My dad, he used to live with us. Sometimes he'd spend all his time sleeping on the couch, and sometimes me and my sis wouldn't see him for days 'cause he'd be out drinking away all our money, or betting it on bum horses." He blinks quickly, and Rachel wonders if he's going to cry. "My mom was so blind and kept giving him second chances, even if it meant she didn't get to eat so she could feed him, and fuck, I was just as dumb. I worshipped my douche of a dad and I believed him when he said he loved us."

"What happened?"

Puck snorts and rolls his eyes. "He stole my mom's jewellery and my video games and my sister's fucking Barbie dolls, and we never saw the jerk again." He shakes his head at the memory, and Rachel's heart goes out to him. "My mom was broken, and she could barely take care of herself, so I vowed to look after her. Trouble is, jobs around here are shitty and rare, and when someone offered me decent money for beating the crap out of a guy, I literally couldn't say no."

"I understand, and I accept your apology."

His head snaps up at that, and he gives her an incredulous look. "But I never said sorry."

"I know, and I know that you want to."

"Thanks, for being cool."

"No problem."

They share a brief smile before they return, and Rachel notes the way that Quinn almost beams at Puck's entrance, though she forgets all about the blonde when Finn pulls her against his chest and kisses every bit of available skin.

Glee!

It's their last day in their hideout before they travel to a new location, disconnected from everyone else, and Finn can't sit still. They've packed all of their minimal belongings up, ready to be stored in the truck, and with a vague idea of what they're going to do next, they just have to sit and wait for the next call from the boss so they don't raise too much suspicion.

"Can Finn and I be alone in my old room for a while?"

Puck looks incredulously over at Rachel before he snorts and waves her off. "Do whatever the fuck you want Berry."

"Language," she says on impulse, and the boy with the mohawk gives her the finger. "Finn, are you coming?"

She's definitely perked up a lot since the incident with Puck and Quinn, and though he has a feeling she'll have permanent scars on her arms, she's smiling a lot more, which probably has something to do with being free(ish).

"Course babe." He ignores Puck when he makes over the top retching noises, and follows Rachel down the hall until they're in her old room again. He has no clue why she'd want to come back to this awful place, but when she closes the door and turns on the light, he doesn't really care. Things have changed so much in 24 hours, and when she walks towards him and steps on the tips of her toes to kiss him, it feels like things might be okay, despite the mess they've got themselves in.

He wraps his arms instinctively around her waist while he eases her lips open and slips his tongue inside, and when she mewls in response, his pants tighten considerably.

"I know that others won't understand," she whispers, and she punctuates every word with a kiss, "but I've felt more for you in this short amount of time than I have in my entire life."

He hopes that she knows he feels the same by the way he grabs her ass and grinds his hips against hers, and judging by the way she squeaks in surprise then moans in satisfaction, she does.

"I brought you in here for a reason," she says between breaths, and he pulls away for a second to study her face.

"Oh yeah?"

"I want you to make love to me."

It feels like someone's just poured a bucket of ice cold water over his head, and he stumbles over his thoughts as he tries to understand what she's just said. "You- What?"

Her smile falters and God no, he doesn't want her thinking that he doesn't want to, 'cause wow, he wants to alright.

"It doesn't matter."

"Rach." He tilts her face towards him and plants a kiss wherever he can reach. "I want to, I do, but this place... You want your first time to he in here, where you were held hostage, where you were hurt?"

"Yes," she says, and her eyes sparkle with her admittance. "Though this room holds some bad memories, it holds some amazing ones too, and if we do this, it's me overcoming my fears, me conquering the things that were meant to destroy me." She rests a hand on his cheek and searches his face for understanding. "I love you, and let's be realistic; once we leave this place, we might get into trouble, and I don't want to regret not taking this step with you." She falters and his heart lurches. "I haven't, I don't-"

"I'm a virgin too," he whispers, and she suddenly beams at him before pulling him closer for a searing kiss, and he doesn't know how Rachel does that; she's somehow able to rob him of his senses and thoughts but that's definitely not a bad thing.

She starts to pull off his shirt and he tugs at her blazer and there's an urgent knock on the door that stops them in mid action.

"You two need to come out."

If Puck didn't sound so devastated, Finn would have cursed at him for ruining what could have been the most perfect moment of his life, but he hears the tone of his voice, and something's happened.

Rachel straightens out her blazer and then his shirt, and holding his hand tightly, she leads them into the room to join Puck and Quinn.

"The boss just called."

"And?"

"They're sending someone over to take Rachel out."

It doesn't go unnoticed that this is the first time that Puck has used her first name, and it doesn't go unnoticed that there are tears flowing freely down her cheeks

"So what?" Finn asks, shaking his head. "Let's go, now."

"They're gonna find us," says Quinn weakly, but fuck, he doesn't have time for this.

"They will if we don't leave now; come on!"

They don't need to be told twice, and Puck and Finn hurry to load up the truck while Rachel hides in the back of the vehicle. It's already been decided that Finn will sit with her like the first day, since it's possible that the police know who he is, and the last thing they need is to get stopped 'cause some recognises him.

They're done in a surprising amount of time, and with Finn's arm around Rachel's shaking shoulders, the truck pulls away from the house, and no one gives the place a backward glance.

"We've decided that we're going to travel for a couple of hours, and when we find a random phone booth, you can call your dads to let them know you're safe."

"Okay," she whispers, and though she's too frightened to care, she needs to be sure of a few things. "Am I going to tell them what's going on?"

"Yeah," Finn says after a while. "But you're gonna have to call one of your friends and then ask them to pass you over to your dads so that the police don't record the call."

"Oh, of course, I see. I think I can trust Kurt the most, and he lives closest to my house." She snuggles against his chest with a sigh, and Finn tightens his protective grip around her. "I'm sorry that we didn't get to... you know."

"Have wild, unforgiving sex? Yeah, me too."

"Finn!" she squeaks, and she playfully hits his arm as he chuckles, and she can hear his laugh reverberating in his chest. "Hopefully there will be plenty of opportunities for that when we get to the motel." He chuckles again, and she falls asleep to that perfect, uplifting noise.

A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, and I'm sorry for not having the chance to reply to the reviews from the last chapter. I was extremely busy this weekend and I literally haven't had time to do that, or even write, so again, I'm sorry, and I'll catch up when I can. I'm back at university full time now so my updates may be a little less frequent, though since I'm having so much fun with this fic, hopefully the wait for new chapters will be no more than three days or so :) Thanks as ever for the amazing feedback, and please don't forget to let me know what you're thinking!