Before she knew what was happening she felt her knuckles connect with the girl's cheek and then reality went into fast forward. She could hear Izzy and Chloe screaming at her and then her feet were moving under her as she took one final glance at the girl who said those hurtful words, now laying at the bottom of the bleachers semi-conscious.

From the corner of her eye she could see Finn running towards her. He probably saw the whole thing and thought she was a totally nutcase now. He would break up with her for sure now.

She didn't stop when she reached him, she just kept going, walking so fast it was almost a jog. Her head was clouded with hate and anger and sadness. She just wanted to get to the street so she could let a bus or something take her away from the pain she felt.

"RAE!" Finn bellowed, jumping in front of her and grabbing her shoulders. "Stop." He said, a little less harsh then. "Just stop for a moment."

Rae did stop then. The world around her unblurred and she saw Finn's gorgeous face in front of hers, his eyebrows furrowed in concern for her.

"What happened, Rae?" he asked, turning her hand over to look at her scathed knuckles. It was then that she felt a tingle of pain from them.

"Those stupid girls, they were saying things. I didn't even mean to... I didn't even know what I was doing... It just happened and I ran." There were tears rushing down Rae's cheeks. The sadness she felt the other night was back. It consumed her, entirely. It made her bones ache and her joints quiver; she could almost feel it pumping through her vessels, consuming her. It didn't matter how much Finn loved her, she couldn't keep going on like this.

"Rae, look at me." Finn grabbed her face in both of his hands. "Rae, I fucking love you, you here me? And so do the gang and your mum and Kester, Danny and Tix. You are so loved. Don't bother yourself with those girls, they're meaningless." Finn grabbed her and held her tightly in his arms, rocking gently, trying to soothe her.

Rae pulled away from him then, holding onto his wrists, her face tear-soaked and red. "I'll be okay, Finn. I just want to call my mom and try and see if I can see Kester today."

"Are you sure? " Finn asked, concerned. "Don't go doing anything stupid."

"'I'm not. I'm gonna go back to mine and call Kester."

"Alright." Finn grabbed her once more and kissed her firmly on the lips and then broke away, resting his head on her forehead. "I love you, Rae. I hope you know that."

Rae smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "I'll call you later."

Rae made it to her house and began writing. She would write a note to Finn, her Mum, to Tix and Danny, Kester and then to each member of the gang. She spoke of how much she loved each and every one of them, how each of them made her life that much more bearable, that if they weren't in her life, she would have done this a long time ago.

After finishing all of the letters, she headed upstairs to the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of pills that were prescribed to her Mum when she broke her wrist a few years back. It would be less messy than the last time. She didn't want anyone cleaning up after her.

Tears began falling from her eys as the sadness she felt was finally getting its say. She was giving in, she had been defeated. There was nothing left for her to do or say. She just had to admit that she had lost this battle and it was finally time to just give it a rest. One by one, she put the pills in her mouth and then she had a realization. She needed to tell him.

She needed to tell Finn she loved him. She needed him to hear it, not just read it in her letter. She ran down the stairs before she couldn't walk anymore and quickly dialed his number.

"Finn?" she asked, as she tried hard to hold back her tears and sound normal.

"Rae? How are you? Did you speak with Kester?"

"Yeah. I did, I'm going to see him soon. "

"That's good." He said. "I'm gonna come over soon. I was just chatting with my dad really quick."

"No, no. It's okay." Rae said, swallowing hard, her resolve no longer strong, she knew he could hear the crack in her voice.

'"Rae? What's wrong?"

"Finn. I… You are the only person in this whole world who made me even consider thinking I was beautiful. I just needed you to know that… And I love you. I mean I really love you. And I should've said this so much sooner, but I thought if I did this whole dream I was living in was going to disappear. But I needed you to know that. I really love you, Finn Nelson… so much. "

"I love you too, Rae…" and then Finn paused, "Rae… are you sure everthing is okay?" and then he heard a click. His heart dropped into his feet and he knew what she was doing.

He sprinted out of his door and climbed on his scooter, helmetless and jacketless and took off to Rae's house. He wove in and out of traffic, pushing his scooter the fastest speed it could travel. His heart pounded in his chest, the fear of losing Rae weakened his entire body. He couldn't lose her… he wouldn't. Rae had changed him for the better.

Finn reached a traffic jam a block away from Rae's house. He made quick work of abandoning his scooter and continuing on by foot. He ran the through the street, pushing through people, bumping into cars. He ran as fast as his legs would let him, his lungs burning with protest. He could see her house in the near distance but no matter how fast he was running it was as though it was just getting further away.

Finally, he reached her house and the front door was locked, "RAE!" he yelled, pounding on the door. After a few moments he stepped back and began kicking the door and slamming his body into it. Soon, it began cracking and breaking off the hinges and lock. One final blow and he was in, the door collapsing into the house.

There she was, laying underneath the phone. He grabbed it off the receiver and mumbled to the operator that he needed an ambulance to Rae's address immediately. It was foggy around him as he put the phone down, kneeling next to her. He was shaking so bad he could barely place his fingers to her neck to see if she had a pulse.

It was faint but it was there. He could hear the sirens in the distance as grabbed her head and placed in his hands.

"I told you not to do anything stupid. I told you I loved you, Rae." Tears were welling up in his eyes. "I told you I loved you… but I never told you why. You're so different, Rae. You're so loud… and sound. I've never connected with someone like I've connected with you; I've never loved someone like I love you. You got this spirit about you, yeah? This spirit I ain't never seen in anybody. No matter what you've been through, you're so vibrant and easy-going. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else. You make me a better person just by talking to ya. I wish you could hear what I was saying right now. I wish I had told you this sooner and maybe you wouldn't have done this."

Soon the sirens had reached the outside of Rae's house and then they came to take Rae, asking Finn a ton of questions he barely knew the answers to. He followed them into the ambulance, and held Rae's limp hand the whole way, wondering if he was ever going to fight with her about music again, or if he was ever going to hold her close again or even get the chance to make love to her; he just needed her to wake up and then after that they could figure everything else out.