DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE OR ITS CHARACTERS! THAT'S ALL FOR RYAN MURPHY!

A/N: Thank you for reviews! They are greatly appreciated! Also for the alerts and favorites, etc. I really would love if once you all finished reading this chapter to leave a review. It'll only take a few seconds unless you have some really great constructive criticism. Either or, please give me your feedback.

3. Tattered Hope

"Hey momma," Finn smiles, hugging Carole Hummel tightly.

"Hey baby," She pulls her son's face down so she can kiss him on the cheek. "How are you? You need to stop in more often. I'm so glad you came to see me. Kurt and Blaine will be here within a few minutes."

Finn shakes his head at his mother's way of communicating. Like he wasn't going to be here for the next two days. Like he doesn't call her every morning just to tell her he loves her and that yes, he's been doing his laundry and eating thee balanced meals a day.

Burt comes in and pats Finn's back.

"Mom, I know Kurt and Blaine will be here. I'm pretty excited. Haven't seen them since last year. I'm going to go upstairs quick and drop my bag off."

Finn jots up the stairs into his familiar cowboy wall paper covered room, dropping his duffle bag down onto the bed and pulling his phone out of his pocket. He has a new text message from Kurt.

DON'T freak out when we get there, okay? Just stay calm. We're almost here.

~Kurt

Finn stares confusedly down at the message before shaking his head and turning his phone off. Why would he freak out? Maybe Kurt got a bad haircut! Yeah, that would make his day. Going downstairs he chats with his mom and Burt. They don't seem to know that anything is up.

The door swings open and Kurt and Blaine enter.

"Oh how I missed this house," Kurt giddily says, bounding into the kitchen with Blaine to hug everyone.

"Hey man, why'd you tell me not to freak out?" Finn asks after everyone had done their greetings.

Kurt's smile drops slightly and he looks behind just in time to see Miss Rachel Berry stumble through the doorway.

Finn's eyes graze over to her; she's totally different and he wonders if this is actually real. Is it real? Is this actually Rachel Berry? The girl who broke his heart, left with it, and hadn't shown her face in Lima for five whole years?

She's not wearing a short plaid skirt with knee high socks. She's not wearing an animal sweater. Her hair no longer has perfectly trimmed bangs. She doesn't rock the natural make up look.

Her height is the same. And those smoldering chocolate eyes are exactly the same too.

"Rachel," Carole finally says to not be rude, although Finn doesn't know why she's being so inviting. This girl ruined him.

"Hi guys," Rachel says nervously, reaching up to play with the end of her dark curly hair.

That's another thing that's the same; when she's nervous she plays with her hair. Finn remembers all too well, the bittersweet memories.

"Well, shit, if it isn't my favorite young girl," Burt says, going to bear hug Rachel.

She lets out a giggle and Finn cracks slightly. Of course he's still looking at her with complete shock. But hearing that warm laughter kind of thaws the icy heart he has.

Kind of; not really.

"I'm not quite a young girl any more, old man," She smiles at him.

"If I'm an old man, you definitely still are a young girl," He taps her nose.

She laughs again before hugging Carole tightly.

"It's so nice to see you, Rachel!"

"It's nice to see you all too," She looks up at Finn, her breath hitching.

She walks over to him and offers the slightest of smiles. She can't hug him, can she? No, not after what she did to him. She holds out her hand for him to shake and he immediately tightens up again. That hurt, Rach, that hurt, he thinks. Seriously, she can give everyone else a hug?

He's the only exception.

"Alright everyone, how about we go and sit down to eat!" Carole announces.

Rachel turns around with flushed cheeks.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Of course! You're our guest now."

-glee-

"So, Rachel, what brings you back to Ohio?" Carole asks. "It's been so bland around here since you left."

Rachel smiles politely and swallows her food, "Oh, Kurt convinced me to come back to Ohio. I actually came to break some news to my dads'."

Kurt looks hesitantly at Rachel, then down at her bare left hand, his eyes going wide. Rachel sends him a glare before continuing her story.

"But it turns out they are on a business trip to Columbus," She pouts. "I won't be able to see them until Monday, and then I'll have to get a ride down there. I can just get a rental, so it'll be fine."

Finn ignores the glance he gets from his mother. The one that he can tell means 'Take her to Columbus!'

"Well what's the news?" Blaine asks, for he knows Rachel shouldn't hide this information from everyone.

She looks around nervously, "It's nothing big... Just about me and Adam."

Finn's eyes narrow at that statement. He's not too fond of this Adam guy.

Carole moves on, "Ooh, what's he like?"

"He's a great actor," She blurts out unpleasantly. "And he's going to be a really great husband."

Carole gasps and Burt claps his hands.

"Rachel, you're getting married?" Carole asks. "To Adam?"

Rachel shifts uncomfortably, "Yeah," She says weakly.

Finn catches on and smirks before poking at his food. Well isn't this just fucking great.

"I think I'm going to retire for the night," Finn states, getting ready to stand up.

"Sit down! You haven't even touched your damn food," Burt nods to the full plate.

Finn grimaces but sits back down, knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid this conversation no matter what. Finn grips his fork and shoves some food in his mouth, chewing it with force. Rachel looks at him with sad, longing eyes.

"How have you all been?" Rachel asks.

"Carole and I are doing great. We decided that we wanted to maybe consider adopting a baby."

"What? That's so great guys!" Rachel says excitedly.

"Yeah, we tried having one ourselves, but it's just not working. Maybe one of us is infertile. I don't know. I'm only forty three, Burt is forty five. We're not that old, you know," Carole explains.

"Whoa, mom too much info about your sex life," Finn laughs.

Rachel can't help but giggle as so do the others at the table.

"How about you Finn?" She asks him. "How are you?"

"Fantastic," He looks directly into her eyes, not backing down.

"How so?" Kurt asks, prompting a further explanation.

"Well, I graduated college, got a job, and will probably draft into the NFL soon. I'd say my life is the best right now and there's no place I'd rather be," He says, still looking at Rachel.

She takes in a breath and looks down. That stung real badly.

"That's wonderful," She nods and eats her food.

"How about you Rachel," Finn asks with a smirk, just because he wants to be a douche. She deserves it. "How is life treating you?"

"Well, I got to Broadway as you all probably know already. And I'm engaged to Adam Zimmer, as you know as well. Kurt and I are already discussing wedding dresses," She shoots back, just because she wants to be a bitch. He deserves it after being so straightforward and… douche-y about everything.

He bites his lip before continuing his dinner. The rest of the night goes on with pitter patter conversation. They are served desert and Rachel states that she needs to leave soon to check into her hotel.

"What? That's crazy! You're staying here in the guest room," Carole waves the comment off.

"But Carole, I couldn't possibly intrude on you like this," Rachel shakes her head, truly embarrassed.

"You're not! We're so glad to have you back, Rach," Carole smiles. "Please just stay."

Rachel smiles softly, "Okay."

-glee-

"Remember where it is?" Finn asks bitterly. "Or did you forget like you forgot all of us?"

Rachel turns around from where she was slowly walking down the hallway upstairs, looking at the familiar wood floor and the caramel painted walls.

"Just because I didn't show myself around here doesn't mean I didn't think of all of you every day I was gone."

Finn rolls his eyes, "Great to see you, Rachel. Really great. I don't know what I would have done with myself if I hadn't seen you again before I died."

"Same, Finn, same," She replies. He goes to his room and slams the door. She goes into the guest room, gently shutting the door and flopping down onto the twin sized bed, sighing exasperatedly.

Why does he have to act like this? Like such a jack ass?

After she undresses herself for the night, she calls Adam to tell him she got there safely and that she missed him. All of this was on his voicemail, for he didn't answer his phone. He had other things he was up to…

She decides that she deserves his sour attitude. After all, she was the one that killed him (emotionally) when she left the only thing that truly mattered in her life.

-glee-

Her door was cracked open the slightest bit when he walked by in the middle of the night to get something to drink. He peered in, the moon shining down onto her. She still drooled when she slept and that made him smile.

That smile immediately vanished when he saw that huge ass diamond ring on her left hand. He turns away and walks downstairs. It's truly over for them. He knew that it was years ago, but now with her marrying some dude; that's really it. His hope was torn down.

There is no more shot with Rachel Berry.