Now the exciting conclusion to Memorial Day weekend!
It was finally Memorial Day and Rachel had woken up extremely sore. Her eye was swollen and she could barely see out of it; her hand was swollen too and killed every time she moved it and she noticed that when she breathed deeply her ribs ached. Rachel was in so much pain it took her a minute to realize she had woken up in bed alone.
She sat up and looked around even though she knew Finn wasn't in the room. Carefully Rachel got out of bed and went over to the mirror over the dresser. Her eye looked about as bad as it felt and she lifted her shirt to look at where her ribs hurt and gasped in shock and pain at the large bruise that had developed on her right side. Jordan had really done a number on her little body. She wondered if the girl felt half as bad as she did that morning.
As Rachel appraised her torso, the door opened and Finn walked in carrying a tray of food. "Oh my God, Rachel! Are you okay?" he asked with concern before putting the tray down on the dresser and going to Rachel to look at her bruise.
"It stings when I breathe. I don't think anything's broken but obviously bruised," Rachel said as Finn bent to look at the large contusion. He lightly brushed his fingers over it and Rachel sucked in a sharp breath of pain.
"I can't believe she did this to you." Finn was steamed. He hated that his tiny girlfriend had been knocked around so hard by a girl who had at least five inches on her and several pounds. From where Finn had been standing as he tried to break the girls up, it seemed like Jordan had been putting her all into the fight too.
Rachel exhaled slowly and headed back over to the bed. "It's my own fault. If I hadn't of punched her she never would have come at me."
Finn shook his head. "It doesn't matter who started it Rachel, the point is she hit you hard enough that your ribs are bruised. I've taken hits from nearly 300 pound guys in football that weren't even that bad. I think you should go to the hospital and get your hand and ribs checked, just to be sure," Finn said with genuine worry. He was sure he would be feeling like shit after taking a beating like that, he couldn't imagine how Rachel must have been feeling.
"We'll miss the parade they're having in town then. I really wanted to go," Rachel whined in protest.
"Who cares about some stupid parade in some town where we don't know anyone? Rachel, you need to get your body checked out." He sat down next to Rachel and grabbed her hand. "Please Rach, for me. I just want to know you're okay."
Rachel looked apprehensive. Every time she went to the doctor with Finn she received bad news; she was afraid if they went today she might find out she had some incurable disease or something. "How about we compromise? We'll go to the parade first then immediately after we'll head to the nearest hospital?"
"Rachel," Finn started to protest.
"Finn," Rachel mimicked. "It's my body and I don't feel like anything is broken and even if it is I don't think waiting a few extra hours will kill me. The bones will still be broken whether we go now or later."
Finn sighed in defeat. "I don't get why you want to go to this parade so badly, but fine. You can't back out though. We are going to the hospital before we head home," Finn placated his stubborn girlfriend. He kissed her temple gently and stood up to grab the tray of food he had brought Rachel. "I brought you breakfast in bed and grabbed you some fresh ice packs."
Rachel leaned her back against the headboard and Finn placed the tray over her legs. She smiled up at him brightly. "Thank you Finn. This was so thoughtful of you," she said taking in the breakfast he'd brought her. It was just cereal with some fruit in it and soy milk with some toast and juice but Rachel thought it was the sweetest thing ever.
Finn crawled back into bed next to Rachel and checked his phone. He had received a text from his mother wondering what time they'd be home. The plan had been to leave around four to be back by 10 but with Rachel wanting to go to the parade before heading to the hospital, he wasn't sure when they'd be back now. He called his mom.
"Hey sweetie! How's your trip going?" Carole asked when she answered on the third ring.
Finn glanced at Rachel. "Overall it's been pretty good. Canada was awesome and we played basketball at the beach," Finn said. Rachel and I had awesome sex every day, Finn added silently to himself. His mom didn't need to know that part.
"What time do you think you'll be getting in tonight?" she asked him again.
Finn breathed out. "Um, I'm not sure. I'm taking Rachel to the hospital later and I don't know how long we'll be there."
"What? Why does Rachel need to go to the hospital? Is she okay?" Carole screeched into the phone.
"Calm down Mom, Rachel is fine, mostly. She just has a few bruises we need to get checked out. She got into a fight last night," Finn replied like it was no big deal.
Carole stuttered into the phone. "Ra-Rachel, Rachel Berry, got into a fight yesterday? With whom might I ask and why?"
"Some old friend of Blaine's who kissed me. It's okay though. Rachel is fine, mostly. I don't know when we'll be home but I'll keep you updated. Please don't worry," Finn begged into the phone. He should have realized when he began to explain, his mother would probably start freaking out.
"You better keep me updated and no more fighting! You all need to make it back in one piece. I don't want to have to explain to the Berrys and Andersons that their children are dead." Finn promised they would do their best to return safe and sound and hung up with his mother.
"Did you want to call your dads?" Finn asked Rachel as she chewed on a spoonful of cereal. She shook her head no.
"I'd rather not burden them with unnecessary worry. I'll explain everything when I see them in person. There's nothing they can do about it anyway." Rachel took a bite of her toast.
"Why didn't I think of that?" They both chuckled and Finn kissed Rachel's cheek before standing up. "I was gonna shower. Do you need anything before I get in?" She shook her head no and told him to have a good shower.
Ten minutes later, Finn was drying off in their room and Rachel was in the shower. The hot water was doing wonders for her sore body and she stood in there for much longer than was necessary. When her fingers started going pruny, the water began running cold and Kurt walked in yelling about needing to take a shower, Rachel finally finished up and walked back into her room to get dried and dressed.
Finn was lying on the bed in shorts and a t-shirt playing with his phone when Rachel walked in, wrapped in a towel. He looked up at her and smiled. "Feel better?"
"I do. The hot water felt so good." Rachel used a smaller towel she had swiped from the linen closet to remove the excess water from her hair then began brushing it. Finn sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Come here," he said tenderly, extending his hand out and waving his fingers in a beckoning movement.
Rachel turned around and walked over to Finn. "Finn, I know you want sex and I do too, but I'm much too sore," she said having a feeling she knew what he wanted before stopping directly in front of him.
"I'm always up for sex with you but actually that's not what I was thinking of just now, amazingly enough." Rachel looked blown away at his words. "I just wanted to hold you." Trying not to touch her sore areas Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist and tugged her toward him. He placed his cheek against her stomach and just held her like that for a minute.
Rachel played with his hair and a warm fuzzy feeling washed over her. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that Finn was hers and hers alone. What Jordan had said about Finn being able to get a "much hotter chick" was true. He'd had Quinn twice and had been with Santana. He had kissed literally every girl in the school. Finn could get any girl he wanted but he only wanted Rachel and some days she still couldn't wrap her mind around it.
For a very long time Rachel didn't feel like she deserved Finn. He was kind and sweet and the big man on campus. She was a dorky little pain-in-the-butt that never shut up. When it came to the physical side, Finn was gorgeous. He turned heads when he walked by and girls would gawk at him like he was a god. The only person who ever looked at her like that, besides Finn, was Jacob Ben Israel. She didn't have in your face beauty that society appreciated. But in the past year, her feelings changed.
After her Barbravention, Rachel accepted herself implicitly and vowed to never change herself for anyone else. She really started to feel comfortable in her skin and to feel beautiful. The feeling was enforced whenever she caught Finn staring at her for no reason other than he wanted to look at her and every time he told her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her, Rachel felt like she was worthy of Finn. It didn't matter that she wasn't the conventional beauty that society craved; Rachel felt beautiful to herself and for Finn and that was all that mattered.
Finn pulled his head away from Rachel's stomach and un-wrapped the towel from her body. "Finn, I'm too so-"
"Shh," was all Finn said as he placed a finger to her lips. He wasn't trying to have sex with Rachel. He just wanted to show her tender body a little tender loving care. His fingertips swept over the dewy skin of her abdomen and he lightly brushed them over her bruise. Her breath hitched and her body clenched. He looked up at her apologetically then pressed his lips to her tummy and placed his hands on her hips.
Rachel put her hands on his shoulders and ran the one that wasn't practically broken down his back smoothly. He moaned against her skin a little and Rachel bit her lip. Finn pulled away momentarily and noticed a single droplet of water trail down the valley between her breasts and slow down just above her belly button. Finn moved forward and licked it from her body causing her to giggle. Rachel let out a cry of pain and Finn immediately stopped what he was doing.
"It hurts so much to laugh," she said clutching her side. "I'm sorry baby, I love what you're doing but I just can't today. My ribs can't take it."
Finn looked at Rachel defeated. She pouted at Finn in sympathy and moved away from him to get dressed. Finn had to help her get her bra and shirt on as it was too painful to really stretch the way she needed to do it herself. Once she was in her white sleeveless blouse and blue and green mini-skirt with her make-up done to cover her bruise as best as possible, Finn and Rachel headed downstairs. They found Blaine stretched out on the couch watching cartoons on Boomerang.
"How's your face Rachel?" Blaine asked, sitting up to make room for them on the couch.
"Better than my ribs. I have a huge bruise on my side." She lifted her shirt to show him. Blaine took in a sharp breath and made a pained expression.
"Ouch. I'm really sorry Rachel. I don't know what Jordan's problem was. When I knew her she was the sweetest girl. Of course we were twelve the last time I saw her…"
Kurt walked downstairs in a robe. "What are we doing today before we leave? I need to know so I can dress appropriately."
"Rachel wants to go to the parade in town. Then I was going to take her to the hospital to get checked out. I just want to be sure nothing is broken," Finn provided.
Kurt clapped excitedly. "I know just what to wear for the parade! But why aren't you taking Rachel to the hospital first?" he said coming down from his mini-high as Finn's words sunk in.
"The parade starts at 11. If I go to the hospital now we'll completely miss it. If I have any broken bones they'll still be broken after it's over. We'll only get to see the parade once," Rachel applied her logic. Kurt headed back upstairs to get his ensemble on and Blaine followed him to get changed while Finn and Rachel watched old Dexter's Laboratory cartoons.
It was about 10 am when Kurt finally ambled downstairs. He was wearing navy blue skinny jeans and a white fitted t-shirt with red and blue stars all over it. He had on a red, white and blue striped visor and some shiny red sneakers. Rachel just stared at him; he was like a gay Uncle Sam. Blaine came down behind him in a much simpler t-shirt and jeans.
"You brought an outfit like that with you on vacation?" Rachel asked Kurt skeptically.
"Well it is Memorial Day. I celebrate America through my wardrobe. Are we going or what?" Kurt said as he led the way to the door.
When they got into town, parking was damn near impossible to find. It was like the entire town came out for the parade. They ended up having to park at what was apparently an elementary school and walk all the way back to Main St. It wasn't that far but it was still quite a trek.
They managed to find a spot in the shade to watch the parade from across from the gas station that didn't actually sell gas. A few minutes after 11 they could see and hear the parade coming toward them. There were a few antique cars carrying what appeared to be the town's elected officials in them at the front and behind them was the high school's marching band. Two cheerleaders stood in front of them carrying a banner with the school's name on it and a soaring eagle. They were the Lake Shore Eagles. The band stopped for a moment to play a song. The musicians wore these hideous and hot looking dark green and white marching band uniforms and on their heads were silly looking dark green cowboy hats. None of the band members seemed to be enjoying themselves.
About halfway through the song the band started marching again and behind them were the school's Varsity cheerleaders. Rachel watched as they did a random cheer about their school and when she saw a familiar brunette her blood boiled. It was Jordan.
"I should have known she was a cheerleader," Rachel said through gritted teeth to Finn. He didn't understand until Rachel pointed Jordan out. Finn noticed the girl had dark bruises under her eyes and tape on her nose. It appeared that Rachel really had broken it. He smiled at his tough little girlfriend, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
Before the Varsity squad had fully moved on, Jordan spotted them in the crowd and her face hardened. She whipped her head forward again and continued to cheer with the rest of the cheerleaders. Clearly she was still sore about being punched in the face.
The rest of the parade was just your average slew of school clubs, fire and police department vehicles and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, etc… but Rachel had enjoyed it. She liked how parades brought people together to appreciate the good things about the town. Then she realized something. "Oh Finn! You were supposed to be in the parade at home with the rest of the football team, weren't you?"
Finn's face fell. "Oh, yeah," he said dejectedly. "Coach Beiste is going to kill me for missing it!" He couldn't believe that he had forgotten. Finn had been so distracted by the idea of a road trip with everyone that he neglected to remember his duty to the football team. Honestly he was glad that he had gone on the trip instead; minus Rachel getting into a fight, it had been way better than hanging around Lima for the weekend and having to sit like a prized pony on some float in a parade he didn't want to be in. "Whatever, nothing we can do about it now. Besides, watching this parade with you is way better than being in one without you." Finn leaned down to kiss Rachel then they all walked back to the car.
About three hours later Rachel and Finn sat in the emergency room waiting for the doctor to come back to show Rachel her x-rays. "I really don't think anything is broken Finn. Please stop worrying so much." He had been pacing nervously. Every time he had gone to the doctor's office with Rachel and told her she would be fine, the doctor always proved him wrong. What if he was a jinx? Just then the ER doctor reappeared.
"From what I can see, nothing appears to be broken. There's obviously some bruising which could take a while to heal. Stay away from any vigorous activities which could aggravate it and you should be fine; same for the hand and eye. If you want you could put a warm washcloth on the areas and that should help improve circulation a bit which will help with healing faster and take some over-the-counter medicines for any pain; just not aspirin. So unless you have any questions, you're free to go." He stood and waited for a sec to see if Rachel had any questions but she didn't. Then he left.
"Thank God, I'm not a jinx!" Finn roared as he pulled Rachel in for a hug.
"Owowowowow, Finn, you're hurting me!" Rachel yelled out. He released her quickly, realizing his mistake.
"Sorry, I forgot." He looked at her sheepishly as she gripped her side trying to ease the pain.
Rachel tightened her lips and spoke in a pained voice through them. "It's okay. Just try to remember from now on." Finn nodded and gently hugged her again. They walked out to the waiting room where Blaine and Kurt had been sitting for the past hour. The nearest hospital had actually been in the direction home so they had just decided to pack everything in the SUV and head out stopping at the hospital on the way. Kurt was asleep on Blaine's shoulder.
"Anything broken?" Blaine asked quietly.
Rachel shook her head. "No, just bruises like I thought. He said it could take a while to heal though and no vigorous activity until then."
"Oh God, now I'm going to have to put up with sexual frustration Finn," Kurt said as he came to and sat up. "He's like a dog with a bone. Take it away from him and all he does is whine."
Rachel blushed. The thought had crossed her mind that they would probably have to go for a while before being able to pick up their steamier amorous activities again. She was looking forward to it about as much as she had been looking forward to getting punched in the eye.
Finn ignored Kurt's jibe at his inability to go a few weeks without getting any and headed toward the exit holding Rachel's hand. They stopped for food before heading out and about six hours later they had finally made it back to the familiar setting of Lima. Blaine would be spending the night at the Hummel-Hudson house as they had arrived back to town so late and he had a bit of a drive to get home. That meant they only had to drop Rachel off.
They pulled into her driveway and the light was still on outside which meant at least one of her dads was still awake. She had explained in a quick phone call after they left the hospital that they would be home a bit later than anticipated and they shouldn't wait up for her, but she had a feeling they would anyway. Finn got out of the driver's seat to walk Rachel to the house and as they approached the porch, Leroy opened the door to greet his daughter and nearly screamed at her appearance.
"Rachel Barbra Berry, what in the lord's name happened to your face?" he shrieked as he pulled her face toward him so he could get a better look at her black eye.
"I kinda got into a fight at a party." Rachel then launched into a quick synopsis of what had happened. By the end of it Leroy looked like he wanted to punch something and based on the way he was looking at him, Finn had an idea that it was his face Leroy wanted to punch.
"This is your fault!" he yelled at Finn.
"Dad, it's not his fault. It's mine. I'm the one who started the fight," Rachel tried to explain to her overly emotional father. Even though Finn had been the catalyst, Rachel had in fact thrown the first punch and started the fight. She smiled inwardly at the thought. She could actually say she had started a fight. Who would have ever thought that? "Can we please just move on from your over-protective-dad schtick? I'm tired and sore and I really just want to go to bed." Rachel looked at her father pleadingly.
"Goodnight Finn," Leroy said evenly as he stared at his daughter.
Finn blinked a few times then said goodnight to Rachel and headed back to the SUV. He wanted to kiss her goodnight but he was afraid if he tried Leroy might really punch him in the face. He watched Leroy lead Rachel into the house and waved goodbye as Rachel looked at him one last time. Then he backed out the driveway and headed for his own house.
Once she was upstairs in her room after her father's rant about her total lack of propriety in dealing with Jordan at the party, Rachel got undressed with some difficulty then realized she would not be able to get a nightgown on if she tried. Getting dressed for the next few days was going to be a nuisance. Forgoing pajamas altogether, Rachel soaked a washcloth in warm water to put over her bruise like the doctor had said, shut off her light then got as comfortable in her bed as possible.
Then her phone buzzed. She looked at the bright screen and saw it was Finn calling. "Hey Finn, miss me already?" Rachel asked cutely.
"I just wanted to say goodnight. My bed feels empty without you in it," Finn said quietly. Rachel couldn't help but snort.
"That is so cheesy Finn, but I appreciate it. It was nice being able to sleep in each other's arms. I could get used to waking up to your face every morning. Not so much your breath, but…"
"Hey, I'm not the only one with morning breath, Miss Snores-a-lot," Finn teased with a chuckle.
"Finn, you know I have a deviated septum. I can't help my snoring!" Rachel chided.
"I know. Your little snores are cute…when they're not right in my ear." Rachel smiled. The line went silent for a moment. "You know everyone is going to want to know what the hell happened to you. It's not every day that Rachel Berry shows up to school with a black eye and busted lip."
Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much. I wonder if anyone will believe it. They might just think you were dancing too close to me again." They both laughed at the memory before Rachel remembered laughing hurt too much. "I should go to bed Finn. My body needs rest. I love you."
"I love you too," Finn replied before saying goodnight a final time.
Rachel put her phone on her side table and turned onto her un-bruised side. As Rachel's ribs ached, thoughts of the weekend floated through her mind, and maybe it was the drama queen in her, but even getting the crap kicked out of her couldn't bring Rachel to regret going on the trip. It had been one of the best weekends of her life and it had provided a glimpse into what her and Finn's life could be like on their own. Though it was just a small glimpse, it was a nice one and Rachel couldn't wait to finally see the bigger picture.
Fun fact: I had to wear those hideous and hot green and white marching band uniforms with the stupid green cowboy hats freshman year of high school because everyone in band had to be in the marching band. I attended Lake Shore for half the year because my mom was in Kuwait with the navy. Marching in that parade was about as much fun as a root canal. Also my grandmother kept taking pictures of the wrong girl.