Thank-you to all those who reviewed, favourited and alerted the first chapter, it really means a lot to me when people do that, even when it's just a favourite because then at least I know they read and enjoyed the story, although a review with it really makes my day :-)

I think this is going to end up a 5 parter.

"Finn!" He felt fingers curl around his arm as someone called his name, stopping him in his tracks as he went to leave Glee Club. Without having to turn around, he recognised Quinn's voice, and although he would never admit it, not even to himself, her touch. Finn felt a twinge of annoyance which grew into anger as he watched Rachel rush out of the choir room before he could catch her, her name falling back down his throat as he realised he was too late, but whether the anger was directed at her or Quinn, he didn't know.

"What do you want?" Finn snapped, but regretted it when he saw Quinn flinch. He did his best to soften his expression, quenching his annoyance at how Rachel had once again avoided him.

"How's Rachel?"

It was such an unexpected question, that Finn did not immediately answer. He started at his ex as if she had sprouted a third head. He could see there was something she wasn't telling him. She wouldn't look at him, afraid he would see the same guilty look she had worn all the time she was pregnant with Beth, even after she had stopped lying to him.

"I don't know Quinn, she's barely spoken to me in weeks and since when have you cared about her anyway?"

Quinn opened her mouth, hesitantly, almost as if she were afraid to speak ad Finn felt another wave of annoyance. The choir room had cleared out by then and it was just the two of them, but Santana had been the last to leave and he knew she wouldn't hesitate in using it to create yet more problems between him and Rachel.

"I know Rachel and I aren't exactly friends, which is why I've come to you rather than confronting her."

"Confronting her, what are you talking about? Is this something I should be getting? Am I just being dumb?"

Quinn wanted to say yes, she couldn't understand how Rachel's boyfriend of the last six months couldn't have noticed something was very wrong. Even someone as idiotic as him must have seen how much weight she had lost, he may not be intelligent, but he had eyes. But getting into a full scale argument, although it would make her feel better, wasn't going to make the situation any easier. The conversation was strange enough as it was, Finn was right, since when did she give a toss about Treasure Trail?

"She's lost weight Finn," snapped Quinn, unable to keep the frustration out of her tone.

Finn frowned. "She has? I mean, I know she has, I guess I've noticed she's thinner now, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Quinn battled with the urge to strangle him.

"She's lost too much weight. You can see her bones, Finn! I walked in on her changing a few weeks ago, the same day she fainted in Glee rehearsal. Did one part of your tiny brain not think that was strange?"

"Well yeah, but she said she was just tired."

"Of course that's what she said! That's what they all say, 'I'm tired', 'I had a big breakfast', 'I'm just trying to get in shape', 'I'm eating with my family later'!" Quinn cried, exasperated.

"All what?"

"Anorexics!"

Finn was instantly stunned into silence. His mind barely registered what Quinn had said, what it meant. All he knew was that wasn't Rachel, she wasn't one of those girls, obsessed with her body, going through wild lengths to be 'pretty'. She was far too focused on her dreams to let anything steer her away from her path to be a star. And anyway, she had him. She didn't need to impress anyone or win a guy over, she already had someone who thought she was perfect as she was. Finn had been her boyfriend for months, she knew he thought she was beautiful. She must have done.

Before he could stop himself, Finn was laughing. A disbelieving chuckle that set Quinn's face into a hard death stare. He stopped immediately, but Quinn's anger did not lessen. She fixed him with a cold withering glare that reminded him of all the months he had tried so desperately to provide for Beth but nothing had ever been good enough. It was not the first time he had received that glare from his ex over Rachel, but it was the first time Quinn had defended her, and it was that which scared Finn.

"Don't be nuts," he said, awkwardly, wishing to be anywhere that was away from Quinn's stare. "Rachel's not- I mean, yeah, she's lost weight, but that's it. It's just one of those crazy diets you girls are always on." If it was even possible, Quinn looked even more murderous. Her eyes narrowed, and Finn noticed her fists clench by her sides. He backed away, afraid she was actually going to attack him and with her being both a girl and his ex, he wouldn't be able to do a thing to defend himself.

"Are you really so stupid that you can't see how far beyond that it's gone? You're meant to be her boyfriend, don't you ever hug her? Watch movies with your arm around her? Have make out sessions? You must have felt how thin she's getting. I've seen her losing weight, but I never knew just how much until I saw her that day in the bathroom, then she passed out in Glee and it was obvious something was very wrong. I've been watching her these past weeks, she doesn't eat anything. The most I've seen her have for lunch is a small salad! A salad Finn! And most of the time it's nothing at all, that's not normal!"

Finn shook his head, fighting back another laugh, but that time it was nervous, something in the place of words because he didn't know what else to say. Quinn was overreacting, he was sure of that. When she was angry, she was almost as much of a drama queen as Rachel. Perhaps Rachel was on a diet she had taken a little too far, but it was reversible. He'd talk to her, tell her she was perfect just as she was, she wasn't sick, just insecure. He would have a word with her and then she would be just fine. Fine.

"I'll talk to her Quinn, take her out for dinner or something, keep an eye on her."

Quinn shook her head, and Finn was shocked to see there were tears in her eyes. He felt as if his ex had been given a personality transplant overnight. Quinn didn't worry about Rachel, she didn't like her and she especially didn't cry over her. It was enough to get him worried and listen to what she was saying. He'd doubted her before, and although he still thought she was overreacting, her tears were enough to scare him. But it was her next words that really did it. Not just the words, but the crack in her voice as she spoke, the defeat.

"I don't think that's enough, Finn. It's too late."

..

The plastic bag swung in Finn's hand as he raised his other one to knock on Rachel's door with a determination he hadn't felt since trying to win her from Jesse. He was going to cook her a meal (or burn her one) and watch while she ate it. Then he was going to spend the evening with her, tell her all the things he should have been telling her for months. He was going to make her feel beautiful again.

The front door swung open, and Finn got his first proper look at Rachel in weeks. Of course he had seen her during class, Glee, lunch times and after school. Most weekends even. But he hadn't really looked at her. Now he did and he saw what Quinn was trying to tell him. It was clear Rachel had lost weight. A lot of weight. Her clothes were loose on her tiny body, material sliding off her shoulders and hanging around her waist as if there was nothing but air underneath it. Her face was different too; thinner, gaunt, pale. Finn could see the slants of her cheekbones, her collar bone producing from her beneath her top. Even her hair looked different, hanging in loose, lank strands around her bones. Bones that he should not be able to see.

Finn blinked, trying to make her Rachel again and not this tiny shell he was seeing now. Rachel with her full face, her curves, her thick, dark curls and her light tan skin. But the girl in front of him wasn't changing. Now that he had seen it, he couldn't pull the rose tinted glasses back over his eyes, stopping himself from seeing what was so very obvious.

Finn forced a smile onto his face, not wanting her to know he knew something was wrong. He wanted to see just how wrong things were before he confronted her about it, and the first step was getting her to eat. He wouldn't pressure her or make a big deal of it, simply announce he was going to cook for her as if he did it every day. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with her eating. Maybe she was thin because she was upset about something else, and had been neglecting food.

"Hey," he greeted, cheerfully, as if he had noticed nothing more than he usually did, and Rachel's face lit up in return. Finn grinned for real at that. She still had that winning smile he loved so much, and it made her entire face look different. Less drained, more full and her eyes sparked again with that familiar gleam that used to be permanent.

"I love you," he said, surprising even himself. He hadn't intended to say it, but that one small gesture from her had reminded Finn of how much he really did care about her. He just hoped Quinn was wrong. He wanted it so much just to be a diet that had got slightly out of hand, been exaggerated in his ex's mind. Something that could be sorted in the same way he usually sorted out his problems with her, by talking to her, singing to her even.

Rachel smiled again, wider than she had done before and kissed Finn on the lips. She had to stand on her tip toes to do it, making her seem more vunerable than ever. Finn put his arms around her waist and returned the kiss, deepening it when he felt his desire grow. He moved his hands, playing with the ends of her hair as they pulled out of the kiss.

"What was that for?" He murmured, his hold on her still tight. He could feel her bones.

She smiled. "I just really love you too."

…

Half an hour later and Finn sat with Rachel on the couch. He had put her favourite movie, Funny Girl on in the background to distract her from the fact she was eating and made the odd comment through the movie for an excuse for his eyes to flick to her, checking if she was eating it. Much to his surprise and delight, she was. Slowly, bite by tiny bite, and admittedly it was only a vegan friendly potato salad as a mixture of her usual diet and Finn's cooking skills had restricted him greatly, but the point was she was eating it. Maybe he had been right, perhaps Quinn was exaggerating.

Rachel knew Finn was watching her. She knew when his eyes travelled to her face, he was really casting glances down at her plate to see how much she had eaten. She had been suspicious of him when he had showed up on her doorstep. They hadn't arranged to spend the evening together, although her dads were working late and she would have liked the company, she didn't want to be the annoying clingy girlfriend. Rachel's suspicions had grown when Finn had announced he was making her dinner. He never made her dinner. Finn was a boy, he was nothing like his step brother, he never cooked full stop.

So from the start, Rachel had known he was up to something, but had waited, not wanting to confront him and blow her own cover. When he had walked out of the kitchen with the potato salad, she had wanted to knock it right out of his hands, run from the temptation, but that would have only confirmed what he already suspected. So Rachel had plastered on her best show face and pretended to be thrilled that he had cooked for her. She had smiled and kissed him, taking the food as if it were a welcome addition rather than an enemy.

It had taken her a while to build up the courage to take the first bite, but after reassuring herself that she could always burn it off when he was gone, or better yet get rid of it even more quickly, she had eventually began to eat. Each mouthful felt like a betrayal to her body and she could feel the calories, the fat, creeping onto her with each bite she took. A guilt settled inside her stomach along with the heavy weight of the food and Rachel wanted to rush right out of the door and run until it was all gone again, but Finn was still watching her. He expected it gone.

Just one meal, she told herself. Just this one, small meal and it will throw him off track. He obviously suspects something, you must be more careful in future. Wear clothes that are less likely to show your figure, you don't want anyone seeing how disgusting you are anyway, and be sure to eat the in front of him. Just an apple, or a small salad. He doesn't need to know it will be your only food of the day.

Finally, after almost an hour, Rachel's plate was clean and Finn looked satisfied. She smiled and leaned closer into him and he draped his arm over her shoulders. He couldn't ignore the feel of her shoulder blade digging sharply into his arm.

"Rach, what's the matter?" He asked, bluntly. It was clear there was something up, and he didn't care if it took all night, he was going to get it out of her. He wasn't leaving until she had opened up to him. It wasn't like her to keep her feelings hidden, and to lose the amount of weight she had, there had to be something bothering her. Something literally eating away at her.

Rachel sighed slightly. She had been expecting the question, as it was clear from the looks Finn had been shooting her all night that he knew something was wrong, but she couldn't tell him the truth. She could lie and say she was fine, convince him it was all in his head, but the he was likely to keep a close eye on her, she couldn't fob him off forever. But if she made something up, spun him a story and promised to take better care of herself, he'd relax. He might bug her for a couple of weeks, but she'd be sure to eat in front of him and he'd leave her alone. She hoped.

"It's my dads," she invented. Even as the words left her mouth, she had no idea where she was going with them. "They've always worked a lot, but they've been working later and later and it just gets lonely in a huge house all on my own. This is meant for a family, not a lone person. Sometimes, when they aren't here, I put on a movie or practice my singing and just get so absorbed in it that I forget to make myself dinner without them around to remind me."

Finn relaxed, feeling guilty for his relief. He felt a pang that Rachel was clearly hurting, but it wasn't almost as bad as he had thought, and nothing like Quinn had made it out to be. He bent over and kissed the crown of her head, squeezing her gently. "You won't have to be alone, just give me a call if your dads are working late and I'll come over."

Rachel instantly cursed herself for not considering that he would make that offer. If Finn was there, she wouldn't be able to workout. All the fat would linger on her body with no place else to go. "It's fine Finn, thank you for the offer, I appreciate it, but they've just been working on something big for work and now it's almost over they'll be back to their normal hours again. This will only carry on for a few more nights. I can manage by myself, I wouldn't want to put you out, you have your own family to socialise with and football practice on top of Glee most nights. Don't worry about me, I will be all right on my own as long as I have Barbara and my musical collection to back her up."

Rachel forced herself to be quite, recognising that she was rambling again. A bad habit she had to break out of. She plastered on her show face, maintaining the mask of confidence so Finn wouldn't suspect she was lying.

A sudden thought struck Finn. "Hey, you're not still mad with me about the whole Santana thing are you? It's just, you don't want me coming here and I thought we'd worked that out, at least, I did as of tonight when you let me in rather than slamming the door in my face."

Rachel smiled a genuine smile, Finn could ramble almost as much as she did when he was nervous. "No, I'm not still angry with you. As hurt as I was by your antics and despite you adding more salt to the wound by called her hot in front of me, I have fully forgiven you for that incident." I just haven't forgiven myself.

Finn relaxed again and Rachel smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. They both turned back to the movie, the suspicion and tension gone, but where Rachel should have felt relief, she only felt the cold weight of loneliness. Her insides twisted painfully with guilt as Finn's arm tightened protectively around her, knowing that she had pushed out the one person who truly cared about her. The victory was hers, but she wasn't a winner.

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