Prompts: Can you write one where Rae is gonna hurt herself but Finn catch her, pretty please with a cherry on top? and Can you do one where Rae gets hurt somehow and Finn's reaction? and Can you do one where Rae feels Finn is kinda smothering her cause of her condition? Most of the fanfic i've read has him pretty laid-back about her condition but I think it would be interesting to see him be overprotective . Of course try to keep them in character as much as you can.

Author notes: This is a combination of all three, sort of!

(Just learned the term Trigger Warning. Should have put a couple on my last fic, but I'll start now: TW: Self harm.)

Finn nearly tripped over a flowerpot as he stepped into Rae's front garden, cringing as the sound of his foot hitting the porcelain pierced the silence of the midnight air. He wondered why there weren't any lights around to help guide him, the street lamp opposite the house feeling like it was many miles away, only casting the slightest glow on the floor in front of him as he tip toed towards Rae's bedroom window. He could see that the blue fairy lights hanging on her wall were turned on, a signal that she was awake and ready to open the front door to sneak him inside. Finn smiled as he picked up a small stone, lobbing it up at the window. It made no sound as it hit the glass, and he wondered briefly if he'd hit his target, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening nearby. She must have saw him coming, he thought with a smirk, walking towards her front step, the dim fear that he'd be greeted by a disgruntled Linda or Karim entering his mind briefly, but not doing enough to stop him.

As he reached the door, he was utterly confused to find nobody there – no Rae in her Care Bear nighty waiting for him with a seductive smile, no half asleep Karim with a baseball bat…just an open door. The house was in darkness apart from a distant light shining at the top of the stairs, reflected in the hallway mirror. Finn looked around, stepping carefully inside, wondering if Rae was planning on jumping out at him as a prank.

When the coast seemed to be clear as Finn ventured further into the house, the front door slowly closing behind him as he moved towards the living room, Finn noticed the light from Rae's room shining through her half open door at the top of the staircase. It seemed dimmer than normal, Finn assuming her light bulb was on the way out, or maybe her Mum had made her switch to those energy saving ones. Finn suddenly shivered, a sudden chill sweeping over him, and he realised he wasn't wearing his jacket.

Rae will soon warm me up. He thought, his heart skipping at the prospect of seeing her, the sweet anticipation encouraging him to start ascending the staircase, glad that his footfall was silent as he did so. His feet felt heavy, he noted, and climbing the stairs seemed to take longer than usual. He attributed this to the darkness that surrounded him. It was bound to take longer in the dark.

He jumped as he reached the final step, thinking he saw a shadow move nearby. His heartbeat slowed as he realised it was a false alarm, but he soon leapt out of his skin once more at the sound of somebody whispering his name.

It was coming from Rae's room – it sounded like her. Why didn't she come out to the hallway? Why was she hiding? It was all very odd, and Finn found himself getting annoyed that she didn't come downstairs to help him get to her room, how she just left him to wander blindly.

He whispered her name in response as his hand touched the half open door. It opened with very little effort, and Finn looked around Rae's seemingly empty bedroom. It looked oddly blank. He remembered there being more stickers on the walls, more detail, more colour. The fairy lights were now turned off, if they were even there at all. Finn couldn't really tell.

He repeated Rae's name, turning quickly as he felt someone touch his shoulder. Nobody there. He turned again, eyes locking on Rae's body, laying on her back across her bed.

"Rae?" he repeated, an amused chuckle brimming in his throat.

She said nothing, didn't look at him. She only stared blankly at the ceiling, completely still.

"Rae…" Finn said once more, before stopping abruptly as his gaze fell on her left hand, which hung limply, knuckles resting on the carpet. Finn looked at her right hand as it lay on the bed sheets next to her, a mark on her wrist almost black under the shadow of her body. He looked at the carpet beside her bed…something had been spilled there, a dark liquid falling from Rae's hand, spreading across the carpet as she continued to lie still.

Finn's heart began to hammer in intense fear as he fully realised what he was beholding.

"Rae!" he yelled, his voice echoing for what seemed like an eternity as he ran towards her, holding both of her hands in his as he knelt on the bed, looking down at her vacant, pale face. Holding her wrists to the dim light, he could better see with rapidly mounting horror the open wounds on both of them, the blood all over her arms and her Care Bear nighty now all over his hands as he cried, screaming her name over and over. He dropped her wrists to shake her shoulders violently, leaving red hand prints there as he moved them upwards to cup her face, her empty eyes unseeing as he rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks, his tears hot as they streamed down his face.

"No!" he kept yelling through his tears, the glint of something shiny beside him distracting him momentarily before a hand seized his shoulder…

The mysterious grasp pulled him up and out of Rae's room into somewhere else entirely. Finn felt himself open his eyes, Rae's lifeless face hovering over his blurred vision as he felt his body shoot upwards, ears ringing.

The hand gripping his shoulder didn't let go as Finn began to take in his surroundings, his heart pounding as he panted and choked, a blurry vision of his Dad sitting on his bed next to him coming into focus.

"It's alright, son! You're alright!" Finn heard him say, voice booming.

"Da-Dad…" he heard himself stutter out.

"You're fine now, it were just a bad dream." Steve said, voice warm but laden with concern.

Finn took another look around his room before sinking downwards onto the mattress, catching his breath as Steve released him.

Finn felt clammy as he stared up at the ceiling, fear and grief giving way to a cold emptiness amidst his mad relief.

"I heard ya screaming, wondered what the fuck was going on. Ran in here to find you writhing about, mumbling and groaning. Haven't seen you have a night terror since you were 9, and that wasn't nearly as bad as just now." Steve said, Finn pressing his hand over his eyes, massaging them with his finger and thumb.

Finn removed his hand to look at the clock beside him: 2:07am. He sighed, his head falling back against the damp pillow.

"Sorry Dad." he said, voice hoarse and low.

"It's alright, lad. I won't ask you what it was about – wouldn't want you to relive it…unless you wanna tell me, of course." Steve replied, smiling slightly.

Finn's jaw clenched as he looked up at Steve. "Thanks for coming in, Dad. I'll see ya in the morning."

"Sure you're alright now?" Steve asked, Finn nodding in response.

"Mm fine, thanks."

Finn watched as his Dad left the room before fixing his gaze to the ceiling, left with the bitter memory of the worst dream he'd ever had. It had been so vivid, so scary. Finn knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep that night.

He remembered Rae telling him about the first time she tried to commit suicide, how he'd tried his hardest not to visualise it for his own sanity's sake. His subconscious had other ideas, it would have seemed, and although he knew he was being ridiculous, the desire to see Rae and make sure she was alright overcame him.

He got up, getting dressed as stealthily as he could, his clothes clinging to the drying perspiration on his skin. He tried to push the visions of Rae's dead body from his mind, shaking his head in an attempt to jolt them away, but to no avail. His throat tightened as he stepped out of his room, creeping down the stairs and slipping on his shoes before sneaking out of the house, deciding to walk to Rae's so he didn't alert his Dad to him leaving by revving his scooter.

He kept his pace quick, the breeze slowly drying his damp hair and brow, his throat slightly sore due to all the apparent yelling he'd done in his sleep. He was beginning to get angry at his mind torturing him with visions from his dream, his eyes stinging as the houses passed him, almost in a blur.

He knew somewhere in his mind that Rae wouldn't appreciate being woken up at 2:30 in the morning, but Finn didn't care too much about that. He knew he was being irrational, but he had resigned himself to being so more often, the frequency of his irratonal behaviour increasing significantly ever since he fell in love with Rae. He was glad to have had her be completely honest with him, for her to trust him enough to tell him all her secrets, but at the same time, the thought of Rae in a place so dark, a place where even he wouldn't be able to follow her…it terrified him to the core. Being the proud president of the Rae Earl fan club, her self-hatred baffled him beyond words, and he wished he could erase it all from her, to know that she at least liked herself. Perhaps then the feeling of fearful dread that crept over him when he hadn't spoken to her in a few days would stop. Maybe then he wouldn't eye Karim's razors with instinctive concern whenever he'd go in her bathroom to take a leak.

When he was of sound mind, he'd tell himself that she was happier now, that she'd told him so plenty of times. He would think of the occasions when Rae would look at him with complete adoration and would whisper "I love you" against his lips before kissing him, convincing himself that she'd never leave him, hoping she wouldn't want to cause him that much pain and heartbreak.

Right then, as he hot footed it through the streets of Stamford in the middle of the night, Finn wasn't of sound mind. As he approached Rae's house, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was reliving the moments he'd endured in his mind mere minutes before.

Shaking his head once again, he fixated on the differences reality highlighted, all the details his brain missed out. The street was brighter than in the dream, and the flowerpot he'd tripped on wasn't there. Rae's fairy lights weren't on and instead of feeling the warmth of excitement at the thought of seeing Rae in a few moments, Finn still felt dreadful, deciding instantly not to bother throwing pebbles at her window to get her attention, instead scaling the drainpipe on the extension underneath, climbing up onto it and approaching her window, tapping on it after he'd done so. He pressed his forehead to the glass, trying to make out the objects in her room, his heart beating fast despite his attempts to mentally reassure himself. When nothing seemed to happen, he tapped again a little harder, the longer nothing happened the more fearful he became.

He'd finally calmed down when the nets eventually moved, his tired girlfriend squinting at him through the window. Shaking her head, she lifted the pane, Finn wasting no time before stepping inside, Rae whispering to him sleepily as he did so, annoyance clearly evident in her tone.

"Finn! What the fuck are you doing here? You frightened the shit outta me!"

Once Finn had got inside, he closed the window and turned on the lamp by Rae's bed, Rae still eyeing him with exhausted confusion. When he finally turned to her, he looked her over, saying nothing as he explored her with his eyes. Rae's irked expression eased slightly as she clocked his scrunched up clothes and sleep mussed hair - he also looked exhausted, sadness plaguing his features.

"What's wrong?" Rae said in a near whisper.

Finn shook his head slightly, eyes glossy.

"I just…had to see ya." he said, before closing the space between them to kiss her deeply. Rae matched his urgent fervour despite her sleepy state, brow still knotted in concern as Finn held her close, gripping the fabric of her pyjamas in his fists, knuckles turning white. When Finn pulled back, Rae stroked the length of his arm from his shoulder before saying: "Well, something's happened. You look like death warmed up." Finn's mouth twitching as he took her hand in his.

"Sorry for wakin' ya." he said, slightly sheepish as he realised how silly he was being.

"S'alright." Rae said, deciding not to push him further.

"Can I stay?" he asked, his grip on her hand tightening.

Rae nodded, smiling at him. Finn mirrored her before letting go of her hand to take off his jacket. Rae slipped back under her covers, Finn taking off his shoes and t-shirt before joining her, pushing back the visions of blood covered bed sheets as he linked his limbs around hers, stroking her back softly with the tips of his fingers.

"Are you gonna tell me what's brought this on?" Rae whispered, shifting slightly in his arms.

Finn shook his head, his cheek rubbing against the fabric of the pillow. He felt Rae's chest expand against his as she sighed, but she nodded slightly in understanding. She lifted her head to kiss him once more.

"Night then." she said, Finn whispering "Night." in response.

Rae closed her eyes, Finn watching her, counting her eyelashes in the lamplight. He watched her nostrils expand as she breathed, relished the feel of her heartbeat against his own.

"Rae…" he began, Rae letting out an "Mmm.." in response, shifting her hand from his back to rub her nose as her eyes opened slightly.

"I had a bad dream…I had the worst dream, actually. That's why I'm here now." Finn whispered, worried Rae would laugh at him.

Instead, she gazed at him inquisitively, genuine concern in her features.

"What did you dream about?" she asked.

Finn swallowed, scanning Rae's face with his eyes. "I dreamt that you'd…that you'd hurt yourself, like in the way you told me…the first time you…"

He couldn't complete the sentence, his eyes closing tight as he battled with his turbulent thoughts and emotions.

"Finn…" Rae began, lifting her hand to cup his face. "It was just a dream. I'm fine, look."

Finn let out a small chuckle. "I know that now, don't I, and I know I'm being a stupid twat, but…I get worried about ya. I can't help it."

Rae moved her face forward to kiss him, Finn not letting her pull back right away, holding her tight to him to keep her there a few moments longer. They looked at each other for a minute once they'd parted, only the sound of the distant traffic and their own breathing accompanying them. Rae opened her mouth, closing it again as if not sure whether to proceed. She let out a big breath, blowing cool, minty air all over Finn's face before burrowing her cheek further into the pillow.

"I knew something had been botherin' ya ever since I told you what happend…" Rae admitted. She fixed her gaze on Finn, her eyes hardening as she continued forcefully:

"…but, I promise ya, I'm never going to let myself get that low ever again. I'm actually making progress, I know I am…I'm getting closer to accepting myself every day. Besides, there's loads of reasons for me to stick around, and you're top of the list." Rae concluded with a smile, although her eyes were still set in sympathy and concern.

Finn remained silent and Rae's eyes defocused as she concentrated on the word he was tracing on her back:

G-O-O-D

"That's just lazy." Rae joked, Finn allowing himself to beam at her. Rae closed her eyes as Finn traced shapes on her back, his touch soothing her. She opened her eyes once again after feeling him peck her nose, letting out a tiny giggle before her face slackened in mock seriousness.

"Now, try and get some sleep. You look as knackered as I feel." Rae said, eyes softening as she smirked. Finn nodded, Rae pecking him once more before turning in his arms to face the wall, her hand linking with his. Finn shifted closer to her, pressing his lips against her back, breathing in the smell of her hair. He moved back to turn off the lamp before resuming his position, smiling against her skin as he felt the words 'love you' being traced onto his forearm. He responded by kissing her back before settling down, his conscience easing enough for him to drift back into a thankfully dreamless sleep.