Rachel was sitting in the back of her dad's car, staring at the bear that she held tightly in her hands. They'd been travelling for almost forty five minutes, in which time her parents had asked her questions about every little detail of the vacation, apart from anything relating to Finn; his name hadn't even been spoken once, and Rachel didn't want to risk an argument if she mentioned him herself.

"So, who did you team up with again? Mike-"

"Chang," Rachel whispered.

"Ah yes, Mike Chang," repeated her dad. "Maybe you should use your new found friendship to hang out with him more."

Rachel rolled her eyes at the suggestion. "Maybe," she said unenthusiastically. She heard her daddy sigh loudly, which probably meant he was going to talk about her boyfriend after all.

"Finn looked thinner than I remember." Rachel didn't reply. "Was he eating properly while you were there?"

She thought about Finn's ravenous appetite, and a smile appeared on her face. "Yes, and then some," she whispered fondly. No matter how much his eating habits surprised her, Rachel loved that Finn would swallow practically anything that could be considered edible. It was one of the things she loved most about him, despite how insignificant it seemed to everyone else.

"I don't want to talk about Finn Hudson until we're home," said her dad in an intimidating, booming voice; Rachel didn't have the energy to argue with him, but her daddy clearly did.

"Honey, we don't-"

"I'm driving. We'll talk about it when we're home," he repeated firmly. Rachel sunk into her seat, letting her eyelids flutter down in exhaustion. If she fell asleep, it meant that she didn't have to deal with her judgemental father, which was certainly a relief.

Her phone vibrated once, twice, then three times. Thankfully, Rachel had placed it on silent mode, so she was able to read it without raising suspicion from her dad.

"Sorry it took so long 4 me to txt u, i've been writin in my journal :-) i miss u already Rach, but dont worry, i hav a plan to get in your dad's good books again! Oh, and in case u didnt no, im gonna be txting u all nite long. Sorry xxxx"

That put a much needed smile on her face.

"You're incredibly chivalrous Finn, but I told you that once before (you probably don't remember). My daddy thinks you've lost weight, though judging by the amount of corn dogs you ate today, I doubt that very much! Rachel x"

She settled back into her seat and allowed herself a quick nap since Finn always took a while to reply (he had a problem with his big hands and the tiny buttons). However, not even a minute later, Rachel's cell phone vibrated again.

"Course i remember! i was pullin ur suitcase 4 u, and i didnt no wat it meant... still dont! And yeah, if anything ive put loads on! i hope u still love me when im fat!"

For the rest of the journey, Rachel and Finn exchanged messages. Even when they talked about the simplest of things (such as the weather, the Puck and Quinn drama, and rabbits), every little word made Rachel smile to herself, and the time seemed to fly by as a result.

"Home sweet home!" announced her daddy suddenly, causing Rachel to jump and drop her cell under her dad's seat.

"I'll get it," he said. He pushed his hand awkwardly under the seat before holding up the phone to inspect the damage.

"yeah well she has to say that coz she's my mom. i think she loves u more than she loves me LOL. she can't love u as much as I do though 0:-)"

Rachel readied herself for the backlash, though she was at least grateful that she hadn't been reading a dirty joke from Noah (despite asking him to stop, he'd made a point of sending her the worst 'jokes' he could find).

"Go inside please Rachel," her dad said slowly. She didn't disobey, and quickly grabbed her bear, who seemed to give her a look of pity (though since he only had one eye, it was difficult to tell).

Mr Berry composed a reply, and checked it once over, his finger lingering over the send button.

"This is Rachel's dad. Please don't text her anymore tonight."

He pressed send.

Glee!

Rachel waited nervously in the front room, still clinging to her Finn bear for dear life. Her daddy was sitting beside her looking just as anxious, which meant that it all came down to her other dad, who had obviously been the force behind her sudden departure.

She didn't understand it at all. With most things, both of her parents had been immensely supportive and understanding, whether it was regarding her need to be popular or her first celebrity crush. The two of them had endeavoured to do right by their only daughter, and even if it meant giving her a very awkward, cringe worthy lesson on the right way to use a tampon (Rachel had tried to erase that from her memory), they were willing to go the extra mile for her.

Therefore, it seemed unusual that they were so outraged at the idea of Rachel having sex. Yes, it would undoubtedly be a shock for any parent to find out that their child was no longer a virgin, but her dads were open minded in most respects, and they'd told her before that when she reached this stage in her life, she simply had to take precautions.

Maybe they considered her too young to be having sexual relations with someone? It was possible, but-

Wait, it was still wrong! Rachel and Finn hadn't gotten anywhere near that kind of intimacy, so she was definitely not supposed to be feeling guilty about it.

Her dad entered the room, carrying the last of Rachel's bags. He wore a sombre expression rather than one of disgust, though she didn't dwell too much on that.

"We need to talk Rachel," he said ominously. He didn't sit down, but instead stood in front of her, looking down at his daughter.

"Okay," she whispered pathetically.

"Your daddy and I want-"

"Ahem!" Rachel's daddy cleared his throat. "This was not a joint decision!"

Her dad rolled his eyes whilst gritting his teeth. "Fine," he said with a slight growl. "I want you to end your relationship with Finn Hudson."

Rachel laughed purely due to being nervous, because honestly, there was nothing funny about the situation whatsoever. "I don't appreciate your sense of humour dad, but-"

"I'm not joking," he said simply. "I have my reasons, and I want you to finish with Finn." He turned abruptly to leave, saying nothing else on the matter.

"Dad, wait!" Rachel bounced out of her seat in an attempt to stop her father, who somehow believed that he'd reached the end of their discussion. She touched him lightly on his shoulder whilst her unoccupied hand rested nervously against her neck; this was her dad, and it was completely wrong of her to feel nervous in his presence. "Can we talk about this first… please?"

Her dad turned around, though not to look at Rachel. "Hiram, set up my laptop please."

Rachel turned, confused, to watch as her daddy turned on her dad's laptop. What was he doing? Was this a way of ignoring her need for a confrontation?

"Dad-"

"Wait a minute Rachel. I need to show you something, and then you might understand why we… I am acting in your best interest." Rachel's shoulders slumped slowly at her father's words, though he was persistent, and refused to let her go into breakdown mode over some silly boy. "That's all I want, Rachel. I want you to be safe and happy."

"It's ready Leroy."

Her dad nodded and took Rachel carefully by the hand. "You need to watch this princess." Father and daughter walked slowly towards the coffee table, where Rachel's daddy was facing the computer, frowning at whatever was so important. "Sit there please." Rachel did as she was told, and half-heartedly, she readied herself for some kind of incriminating evidence that obviously proved that she and Finn had partaken in wild, uncontrollable sexual exploits.

She stared soullessly at the laptop screen for a few seconds, waiting for some kind of emotion to kick in. She first experienced confusion. She'd half expected a badly edited photo of her in a compromising position, courtesy of some jealous Cheerio or bored football player, yet her estimations had been way off. In fact, she'd been looking at the exact same thing that very morning, which didn't help in highlighting the problem.

"You've got a copy of the interview," she said, more of a statement than a question that needed answering.

"Yes," her daddy said simply. He seemed to be taking the situation just as badly as Rachel, since he was the more dramatic of the parental figures.

"And you're planning to show me the heated sexual chemistry between Finn and I that resulted in the completely unfair treatment I received today." Again, it was a statement, not a question, because Rachel understood perfectly well what it was all about; she was just too dramatic. The whole thing about thinking of Finn as she prepared to meet certain death had been a tad over the top, but that had been Rachel's chance to shine, and she'd chosen to dedicate her air-time to her heroic, dashing young boyfriend.

"Actually, it's not about that," said her dad, a hint of guilt in his voice. "I needed to invent an excuse that would make your departure more morally plausible. The real reason will be highlighted in a few minutes time." Rachel stared in astonishment at her father, who chose to ignore her glare, focusing instead on the laptop. "Watch this please Rachel." He pressed play, and with a slight delay, the interview began to play as it had in the morning.

Rachel didn't listen to the words that the interviewer gave, and she didn't watch herself with a judgmental attitude in mind. No, she didn't focus on anything other than Finn, who stood awkwardly beside her like it pained him to be in the centre of attention.

"So Finn, what do you plan to do when you get home, now knowing that your girlfriend could have died?"

Rachel furrowed her brow; this hadn't been shown in the news, because Finn had-

"We'll probably just go to bed!" he laughed, until he realised the connotations of what he'd just said. "No, wait, I mean that we'll just sleep together. Not like sex sleep, um, just catching up on normal sleep sleep, you know? Oh man, we can cut that out right? I don't even know why I said that."

Rachel watched, almost teary eyed, as her double on the screen reached up to kiss Finn on the cheek. "Calm down Finn, you don't need to be nervous."

"That's right," said the news reporter. "We're just going to shorten it down to the most relevant clips, so we won't show anything that's embarrassing. Okay, now I'm going to ask you-"

Rachel's world seemed to become numb, which was a strange description in itself. Here she was, back at home, sitting between two men that she completely adored. At any other moment, this would have been perfect, because their work shifts meant that the three of them rarely spent a lot of time together.

But she didn't want to be at home with them, however selfish that appeared. She wanted to be back at the beach house, watching Finn eating, or listening to him talk, or laughing as he joked, but instead, she had to settle with the uncut interview, which she still didn't understand. If it wasn't about sex, what was it about? She couldn't recall anything specifically unmoral in their responses, and yes, Finn had uttered a few curse words when he muddled up his sentences, but that was nothing in relation to her punishment.

"Daddy, what am I supposed to be waiting for?" she finally asked.

Her daddy looked sternly at his husband before answering. "It's coming up now," he said, though by the tone of his voice, it was easy to distinguish his disapproval in the whole affair.

"How did you get the full interview, and why?" Rachel addressed her question to her dad, whose hardened expression remained much the same.

"I contacted the WOHN offices this morning, and requested the unedited video. It was then emailed to me so that I could find out all the details about the accident. I needed to know everything Rachel, for my own sanity."

Rachel glanced down at her fingers, counting something silently as she did so. "But how did you get it so quickly? The interview was barely over for five minutes before you called me."

"We watched the early news broadcast this morning sweetie," said her daddy, who patted her on the shoulder in a soothing manner. "We were up early to visit some old friends, and we happened to catch the last part of your interview."

"Here we are," said her dad. He pointed to the computer screen, almost prodding the familiar faces that moved before him. "Listen first, and then we'll deal with the rest."

Rachel was extremely apprehensive, though she was certain that nothing could incriminate the pair of them; the reporter only asked for information relating to the accident (and to school, hobbies, that sort of thing).

"Did either of you sustain any injuries, no matter how minor?" he asked.

The Rachel in front of them shook her head with a smile. "Somehow, we both came out of this accident without any scratches, though we're very cold and wet, obviously." She smiled up lovingly at Finn, who looked as uncomfortable as ever.

"How about that large bruise on your cheek?"

Rachel laughed as she tossed her hair. "Long story short, it was an accident, but one unrelated to the situation."

The video was paused indefinitely, causing Rachel to glance from her daddy to her dad, still waiting for the punch line of the bad taste joke. "I'm not sure I understand what you're concerned about," she said honestly. "You think I lied to the reporter? I didn't get hurt in the boat accident at all!"

"Oh, I know that you didn't," her dad said, almost snidely. "I'm going to run the clip back. When the bruise is mentioned, watch Finn's face." He pressed play, and only then, as the interview was replayed, and as Finn looked away in obvious guilty and self loathing, Rachel understood perfectly what the problem was; they, like Miss Pillsbury, thought that Finn had physically abused her.

"Dad, daddy, you have to believe me, Finn didn't-"

"He hurt you Rachel," said her dad loudly, not listening to Rachel's words. "You'll probably insist that it was an accident, but when people are in abusive relationships, they fail to see anything wrong with such behaviour."

"Dad, you-"

"Anyway, like I said, I want you to break up with Finn. He's definitely no good for you."

"Just let me-"

"I'm going to make some tea. Does anyone want-"

"SHUT UP!" Rachel had somehow risen from her seat, and for the first time in her life, she'd screamed at her dad like some kind of unruly, unloving child. She'd never felt the need to get so worked up over something before, but honestly, her dad had asked for it with his ignorance.

"What did you say young lady?" he asked, flabbergasted. "I think you owe me an-"

"I don't owe you anything!" she shrieked. She refused to feel guilty for her outburst because he had no idea how hard it was to hear him say untruthful things about Finn. "Just LISTEN to me!" She stomped on the spot like a little kid trying to get her own way, but she didn't care how immature she was coming across. "It was an accident!" She looked to her daddy, who looked impressed rather than disappointed. "We accidentally walked into each other, we both fell to the floor, and his elbow caught my cheek." Rachel folded her arms then stared angrily at her dad. "I would never let anyone hurt me on purpose, and besides, Finn is not that person. I'm going to bed. When you feel like you can apologise for coming to the most ridiculous assumption ever, I'll be ready to forgive you. Goodnight."

Rachel snatched her cell phone from the table, her Finn bear from the couch, and her smallest bag from the large pile that she'd taken on vacation with her. It was too early to sleep, but she really needed to be on her own, especially since she'd just humiliated her dad.

She flung herself on her bed, tears fresh in her eyes as she sent a text to Finn.

"I just shouted at my dad because of some stupid misunderstanding. I need a hug :( Rachel x"

Her phone buzzed a few seconds later.

"He told me not to reply Rach and i dont want 2 get u in trouble"

"Please? He won't know, I promise. Rachel x"

She waited on edge for five minutes, staring down at her phone. It buzzed again, though it wasn't an incoming message; it was a call.

"Hey," Rachel breathed with relief. "Finn, you have no idea how much I need to hear your voice right now."

She heard a chuckle on the other end of the phone. "Not as much as I need to hear yours. Is everything okay?"

"No, but I can handle it. I'm Rachel Berry, remember?"

He laughed again. "How could I ever forget that?"

A/N: Sorry for the short update, and thank you for your continued feedback and support!