Prompt: Rachel is hurt and Finn takes care of her.
Prompted by: the lovely miss Bea, or childstarleam on tumblr and here (:

baby, you're not alone

He gets the phone call at four in the afternoon on a Saturday. He's watching college football when the phone rings, and, expecting it to be Puck because Rachel's in the middle of her rehearsal, he answers, "'Sup, bro."

"Finn?"

He sits up a little straighter. It's a girl's voice, but it's not Rachel's. "Uh, yeah, who is this?"

"This is Gwen, Rachel's understudy."

He swallows.

"I'm at the hospital."

"What happened?" he asks, panic seeping into his voice. "Is she okay?"

"She fell during rehearsal, and her foot just… it didn't look good."

"I'll be right there," he says quickly, grabbing his coat and his keys and heading out the door. He can't believe this is happening.

…

It takes him a half hour to get to the hospital due to traffic, and she's already been admitted to a room.

He tells the lady at the front desk that he's looking for his fiancée, and after she gets his name she tells him where to go. He finds the room easily enough, but she's not alone. Two other people are with her, a guy and a girl.

He quickly goes over to her, dropping into the seat next to her bed and taking her hand. Her ankle's elevated, and it definitely looks broken.

"Hey," he says softly, pushing back her bangs. "You okay, baby?"

She nods, but she's gritting her teeth. "Totally fine," she manages to get out. "I could have finished rehearsal."

"Rachel, we all heard the bone snap," the girl on the other side of her says – Gwen, Finn figures. "There are some times when the show shouldn't go on."

Rachel scoffs. "That's nonsense. I'm perfectly fine."

Gwen rolls her eyes. "Then why were you crying on the way over here?"

Rachel looks down sheepishly.

Finn kisses her forehead. "It'll be okay," he murmurs.

"What if I can't do the show?" she wails.

Gwen and the guy share a look.

"The show must go on?" the guy offers weakly.

Rachel and Finn both glare at him.

"You're supposed to be my leading man, Gary," Rachel snaps.

"Don't worry, that's what I'm here for," Finn assures her.

She smiles a little. He figures it means she's feeling a little better.

…

Her ankle is fractured in three different places. She sobs hysterically when the doctor breaks the news, claiming she'll have to quit the play and she'll never work on the stage again. The doctor just rolls his eyes and tells her not to walk on it for at least a week, ordering her to take it easy.

Finn hopes he knows that Rachel never takes it easy.

She's mortified when she has to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, but thankfully the pain meds the doctor prescribes kick in before she can throw too big of a fit.

"We should probably head back to the theater," Gary says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Finn nods. "I'll take her home. Don't worry. Thanks for bringing her here, though."

"'Course," Gary says. If Finn weren't positive Gary is capital G gay, he'd probably be a little jealous. Thankfully, Gary likes boys.

Gary and Gwen leave, and Finn wheels Rachel out to his car.

"This is so embarrassing," she mutters as she wraps her arms around his neck and lets him pick her up.

He puts her in the passenger seat, then cups her cheek. "Hey, I'm just glad you're okay."

She nods. "Yeah, me, too."

She doesn't complain about the wheelchair after that.

…

She hates the couch. She tells him this twenty times.

"Why do we even have this couch, Finn? It's not even that comfortable."

He sighs, reaching over her to grab the remote. She's not even watching the television anyway. "Do you want me to carry you back to the bedroom?"

"No," she says adamantly. "I want you to not have to carry me."

"Rachel, it's been a day. You still have a week of no walking."

She sighs.

"Can I get you something?" he asks. "Maybe some snacks, or… I don't know, a drink?"

"I guess you can get me a class of water," she concedes.

He kisses her on the forehead, careful not to hit her foot when he gets up off the couch. "As you wish," he says sweetly.

She grins.

When he comes back two minutes later, he sees she changed the channel – again.

"Babe, what—"

"It's A Walk to Remember." She looks at him with earnest eyes. "It's such a great movie, Finny, I promise. Please watch it with me? Please?"

He sits back down on the couch, handing her the glass of water. "Sure, babe," he says. She's stranded on the couch so it's the least he can do, right? So he puts an arm around her and watches the movie.

And, yeah, he cries a little bit at the end, but it's only because he had something in his eye, no matter what Rachel says.

…

On her fourth day of being confined to the couch, Rachel has a breakdown. He comes in, hands full of groceries to see her sobbing hysterically. He quickly deposits the bags on the table and rushes over to the couch.

"Rach, what's wrong?" he asks earnestly, leaning down next to her. "Does it hurt, baby?"

She shakes her head. "It's not th-that!"

His brow crinkles in confusion. "Then what is it?"

"I'm never g-gonna m-make it," she wails, burying her head in his sweater.

His arms wrap around her automatically, smoothing down her hair.

"I j-just worked so h-hard for this, and n-now it's all r-ruined because of some f-freak accident with a l-loose board and b-bad choreography." She cries even harder, her shoulders slumping.

"Hey," he says softly. "They're not recasting you, Rach. You can still do the show."

"B-but if I'm not h-healed before the show s-starts, Gwen will go on in my p-place."

"You have three weeks," he says gently. She pulls away and looks up at him, her eyes rimmed red. "And you are so incredibly talented, Rach. They would be idiots to let a talent like you go."

She sniffs, taking in a shallow breath. "Y-you really th-think so?"

He laughs, kissing her nose. "Baby, I know so. You're gonna make it, you know. Your name is gonna be up in lights, and I can't wait to see it."

"You'll be in the front row on opening night?" she whispers.

"I wouldn't miss it," he tells her honestly.

She tilts her head up, closing her eyes, and he grins as he kisses her, her hands moving to the back of his neck.

"I love you," she breathes as he pulls away, his hand still in her hair.

"I love you, too," he whispers back.

She smiles, ducking her head. He cups her cheek and then kisses her again.

…

She gets cleared to perform on opening night. Half of her choreography is cut, but she's just anxious to be onstage, so she doesn't fight it.

Just like he promised, Finn is in the front row.

She gets a standing ovation at the end of her performance, and she blows Finn a kiss as she takes her final bow. He grins. She's totally the best, ever. He's not even being biased. (Well, okay, maybe he is, just a little.)

He gives her flowers outside her dressing room after the performance, kissing her on the cheek. Not caring about ruining her makeup, she kisses him full on the mouth instead.

"Thank you," she says, her eyes shining as she pulls away.

"For what?" he asks.

"Everything," she replies. "For being here tonight. For taking care of me and putting up with my crazy for three weeks. For… just being you. And loving me, no matter what."

He grins, kissing her again.

Rachel's meant to be on the stage. It's where she belongs. And Finn? He's meant to love Rachel Berry. He's always been good at it, really. And he plans on doing it for the rest of his life.

Reviews are love!
And thank you all so so much once again. (:

Oh and this story is now listed as complete, but only because I'll be working on my multichap AU Quick fic and my new Finchel full length oneshot, so it won't be updated as regularly. I'm probably not done with this yet, though ;)