CHAPTER 3

"How do you know?" Rachel randomly asked her father, Hiram, one evening as they both were watching TV together. They were watching the X Factor and one of the contestants had just been rejected by all four judges as they were absolutely pitiful. However, rather than criticizing the performances like she normally did, Rachel was only partially hearing it as thoughts ran through her mind. She sat next to her father, knees up on the couch and clutching a pillow to her chest.

"Know what, Sweetie?" Hiram asked after taking a sip of his water and setting it back onto the glass table. Although he asked, Hiram pretty much knew what his daughter was about to ask. It would be the thing that had filled her mind for the past two years, or rather the person.

"Who the right person is?" Rachel asked, turning towards her father. "How do you know they're right for you?"

Hiram smiled faintly at his vulnerable daughter and looked at her with a look of pity. Rachel didn't know this, but when they broke up, Rachel was so depressed that Hiram himself marched over to Finn's house to yell at the boy. Hiram was rude and disrespectful, but to Finn's credit, rather than slapping the man across the face like he wanted to, he calmly explained his side of the story. Hiram was appalled at the actions his daughter had committed, but he would never tell her this. "Still thinking about Finn, aren't you?"

"No...yes...well..." Rachel sighed and bowed her head in defeat. She slumped deeper into the sofa. "Yeah." She finally admitted.

Hiram shook his head. "Personally, Rachel, I think you guys just need some time away from each other," he said again. "Don't get me wrong, I do like Finn. He's funny, kind to you, and he always respected you when you were together. But from what you told me, he made some bad choices after you had broken up, and after from what he told me, you made some pretty bad ones during."

Rachel nodded, and then suddenly realised something.

"Wait, when did you speak to Finn?" She demanded. Hiram suddenly realised what had just slipped out of his mouth. He sighed and decided to tell his daughter about what happened.

"Well, the day you two broke up, I saw how upset you were, Pumpkin, so I went over to Finn's place to yell at him and demand he apologise to you. I hate to confess, but I wasn't very polite and you could tell Finn wanted to throw me out the house. However, instead he explained to me what had happened over the past few months, from his perspective. I understood why he initiated the break up, and frankly I don't blame him. It was only after you two broke up that Finn made big mistakes."

"I guess what you said was right," Rachel said, hugging herself tightly. "I can't believe what I did while we were dating. It all happened so fast. It was like a nightmare" she trailed off, not wanting to give voice to the still painful memory.

"Kissing another boy while with Finn was definitely a bad decision, Honey. And Noah Puckerman was quite possibly the worst person you could have chosen to hurt Finn. I won't sugar-coat that, nor will I sit here and say I can't understand why he ended things with you after you told him. How often have your father and I taught you that two wrongs don't make a right? Or that if you fight fire with fire then the world will go up in smoke."

Hiram took a breath and then smiled at her, his hand resting on her arm.

"But Finn didn't make a great decision either, going back to an ex-girlfriend who had treated him and you pretty badly. I know that you heard from Kurt that the reason that he went back to Quinn was that he was so hurt by your break up, he needed a distraction from the pain, but getting back together with that girl is a bit too far. Anyways, after all that both of you did to each other, I do think you need to be apart for now and understand yourselves. Maybe someday in the future you'll be ready for each other again, but not the way things seemed to be going."

Rachel sighed and a lone tear escaped. "He doesn't love me anymore.'' She whispered. Hiram looked at his daughter, confused.

"Pardon me?" Hiram asked.

"He doesn't love me!" Rachel screamed. "Kurt broke the news to me a couple of weeks ago. He felt that I deserved to know, even if it meant betraying Finn's privacy. He said that Finn's crappy junior year wasn't all my fault, but I was the straw that broke the camel's back. Finn apparently just doesn't love me anymore."

Hiram soothed and reassured his crying daughter as he held her in his arms, just like when she was younger. "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger, Rachel. And if you and Finn are going to try again later, you both need to be stronger so the same mistakes won't be repeated. And no matter what happens, trust me; things have an amazing habit of always working out for the best."

A few hours later, Rachel was lying on her bed, trying to come to terms with what had happened today. Talking to her dad had really helped clear things up, and she decided that, if she wanted to get back with Finn, she needed to give him time. Suddenly, the phone beside her 'dinged' once to notify her that she had an incoming text. Rachel opened her eyes and grabbed her phone in case maybe Kurt and Mercedes had changed plans for the evening. She glanced at the screen.

Text Message From Finn Hudson

She gulped nervously, not sure if she wanted to read the message or not. It had been hard enough to watch him date Quinn during Sophomore year, but watching him go back to her during Junior year was torture. But she knew that at the end of the day, it was her fault that Finn went back to Quinn. She caused him so much hurt and pain. Perhaps that was why he had decided not to forgive her. It would be just a repetition of the cycle.

She moved her thumb over the text message notification and pressed the touch-screen to open the message, sighing and hoping that he had started to forgive her by this point. It had been more than 8 months since he broke up with her, and 6 months since he broke up with Quinn. The message was sent on their Glee group chat and it read…

Gone 4 the summer. C U all at school Sep 6. Take care.

What the hell? She asked herself as she read the short, one-lined message multiple times. Finn was gone for the whole summer! Would he have any communication? But even if he did, would he really try to contact any of them? And what kind of job involves being gone all summer.

She really, really wanted to call him, but refrained from doing so. She didn't want to call him too soon and scare him off forever - that was if she hadn't already. She also knew she could probably get an answer from Kurt. Kurt was a really nice guy, but couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

She nodded to herself about her decision. She put the phone back on the nightstand and closed her eyes again.

Yes, whether she liked it or not, she also needed time and space.