I'm pretty sure I know where this is going, and the last chapter is sure to give me hell. I always end up with an ending conflict, I'm so indecisive.

She had twenty four hours left. One day. One more free day of Quinn's ultimatum, and then she would be caught. Rachel had done her best. She had taken to making sure she ate around Quinn, trying to get both her and Finn together so she never had to eat anymore than one small meal a day, but she wasn't as naive as her ex boyfriend. She had guessed what Rachel was up to within the first day, and had hissed, as she left the lunch hall, that it wasn't going to work.

So then Rachel had tried a different approach. She had cornered Quinn, told her she was spouting rubbish and imagining the whole thing. She insisted she was eating, that nothing was wrong, it was just an ordinary diet, but Quinn had just scoffed, deaf to her excuses. It was only when Rachel burst out that there was clearly nothing wrong with her if she was still so fat, so ugly that she got a proper reaction from her team mate.

Quinn had stared at her, for several long seconds. Long enough so Rachel considered just slipping away, leaving the conversation for later because the stare was making her feel so uncomfortable, but in the end, she hadn't needed to. Before she could move, the ex cheerleader's eyes had filled with tears, and she fled, leaving Rachel standing in the English classroom wondering what on earth had just happened.

Nothing had worked, and now she had just one more day left of exercising, eating as little as she liked before she knew the inevitable would happen. She wasn't stupid, she knew the way she was going about losing weight was dangerous, she knew they would try and stop her, put her on a more healthy diet plan that would make her gain huge amounts of weight. Rachel knew the way she was going about her diet wasn't the best, but it was the only way to shed it fast, like she needed to.

But she wasn't sick, she wasn't one of those girls. She couldn't be, there was still so much weight there. She'd have to lose much more before she could be like them. Those skinny girls she saw in the newspapers or magazines, those who had taken a diet too far and ended up in hospital, or worse. When she had first seen one of those articles, it had scared her. It had scared her almost enough to make her give up what she was doing, but then she had caught sight of herself in a mirror and she knew she had nothing to worry about.

Now Rachel needed a plan. She'd have to do something to make sure she couldn't put on the weight from the food they were going to shovel down her. Perhaps she would work on her gag reflex, but that couldn't last. It wouldn't be long before they were listening at the door when she went to the bathroom like unshakable stalkers. At least there was nothing they could do about it while she was at home, unless they physically moved in with her. It wasn't as if her dads were ever around to make sure she ate.

If she could just wake up earlier, then she could get an extra workout in before running to school, then, if she tried extra hard with the dancing in Glee rehearsal and ran home as well, she should burn off whatever they forced her to eat during the day. And anyway, they couldn't actually make her eat. It would just be a show, all she'd have to do was keep it up for a couple of weeks, and they'd leave her alone. She controlled her body, not them. They couldn't make her do anything.

…

With some persuasion, Rachel had agreed to spend the evening at Finn's. It was by no means what she wanted to do, she'd never be able to get her full workout in and what was she going to do about eating? But as she had gone to refuse, she had seen Finn's face fall before she could even say no as he guessed her next words. He looked crushed, like she was getting ready to dump him altogether, and suddenly, she hadn't the heart to say no.

One night couldn't hurt, could it? She couldn't put on weight from one night. But still the thought of eating with someone else, right in front of them, in front of a whole family, a meal that was not her choice, something that she couldn't see exactly what was going into it filled her with dread. What if Finn's mom used something bursting with calories in her cooking? Rachel could hardly turn it down without looking rude; it was times like this in which she was thrilled about her vegan diet.

Rachel forced a smile as Finn's arm slunk around her shoulder, but before he had even opened his mouth, she was already coming up with a million excuses to back away from him so he couldn't feel what was underneath her clothes. But his arm only tightened around her, holding her close as if he was afraid she would fade away.

"My mom's really psyched about your visit. She's missed you." Although he didn't say it, Rachel heard the unspoken 'she's not the only one'.

She smiled. "Well with my crammed schedule of dance, vocal and acting lessons, it's been hard to find the time to engage in other matters. Lately I have found myself particularly busy with my Broadway dreams having realised if I am ever to get anywhere with my ambitions, I need to work myself harder." Give myself the body of a star.

Finn listened to Rachel rant, a dopey grin crossing his features as her voice washed over him. He had missed this. He had missed her. It had been so long since her rabbles had assaulted his ears, and he couldn't say he had enjoyed the silence. Sure, at first it had been nice to have some time to his self, a few hours to play Call Of Duty or get in an extra football practice, but after a while, it was just plain weird. He had begun to notice the absence of his girlfriend, and it wasn't a feeling he was willing to get used to.

As they walked, Finn took his arm from around Rachel's shoulders, pushing away the realisation that he could feel the sharpness of her shoulder blades through her overly large top and instead, he took her hand, interlocking their fingers as a new way to claim her for his own.

"Your hands are cold," he commented, squeezing her fingers.

…

As predicted by Finn, Rachel received a warm welcome from his mother. Carole pulled Rachel into a tight hug as soon as she walked through the doorway, and it was everything Rachel could do not to pull away again as she felt her boyfriend's mom stiffen, feeling her tiny frame.

"You've lost weight," she informed Rachel, as if it was going to be news to everyone. "We'll soon do something about that." She smiled warmly at her, and Rachel's panic was immediately replaced by a pang of hurt that Finn's mom seemed to care for her more than her own did. His family was like the one she had always longed for, but never had. Finn had the easy, tight relationship with his mother that she had always dreamed of, and the siblings she had longed for. She just wanted someone to keep her company during the long evenings of solitude.

The smell of cooking wafted through to the hall and made Rachel's stomach turn uneasily. There was nothing inside her to throw up, but that didn't stop the smell making her feel sick, and she wished she had never agreed to this. She could have made up some excuse, had Finn over hers instead. Or told him she wouldn't be able to make it until later so she could have skipped dinner.

"Hey Princess," Kurt's voice wafted from the top of the stairs and he practically skipped down them to give Rachel a hug and she 'accidentally' shrugged her bag from her shoulder so she had an excuse to bend down and pick it up, avoiding the hug. Kurt looked slightly taken aback as Rachel stood again, her arms crossed firmly over her stomach, a clear signal for him to stay away.

…

Not long later, Rachel, Finn, Kurt and their parents were sitting down to dinner. Rachel's first proper meal in months, and she was struggling with the urge to throw up. She was tempted to cave to it, at least if she had to dash to the loo, she would have a good excuse to get out of eating the meal, but she didn't want Carole to think it was her food.

The bile rose in her throat as Finn's mother placed a steaming plate of pasta in front of her, her heart sinking that Carole had remembered she was vegan. Rachel forced a smile, plastering on her well practised show face, and with a trembling hand, she picked up her fork along with everyone else. She stared down at the plate, almost able to see all the fat glistening on the food, tormenting her.

Rachel stabbed a single pasta twirl and lifted it to her lips. That part was simple enough. Just do this slowly, she told herself, eat one piece at a time and don't think about it. If you do this, he might stop worrying. The thought was hardly a comfort as she forced the pasta into her mouth, chewing almost on auto pilot. One piece after the other, trying desperately to focus on the conversation to avoid thinking about what she was putting into her body, but the words washed over her, her focus completely on the food in front of her.

At last, after what felt like hours later, her plate was empty. After not having eaten a meal in months, it should have made her feel better, but Rachel had never felt more disgusting. If it had been Quinn sat at the table, she would have politely declined in favour of her cheerleader diet, but of course, she was too weak to do the same. How long was it going to take for Finn to realise he had made a huge mistake dumping someone as gorgeous as Quinn and ask for her back?

"That was lovely," said Rachel, sweetly, with a very forced smile which Carole returned, brightly. Finn also smiled at her, looking happier than she had seen him in ages, and finally, she smiled for real. She had missed his dopey grin. But her happiness was short lived as the alien feeling of being full set in. She had to get rid of it, later wouldn't do, burning it off wouldn't work, it had to go now.

With another forced smile, Rachel stood as quickly as she could without making it obvious she was in a hurry to get away. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go, my dads are home early tonight and they want to take advantage of the lack of work demands by having a night in, just the three of us." She refused to look at Finn as he spoke, knowing the grin would fall off his face.

Kurt smiled back at her and dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "That's okay Princess, I know how my brother's company can become insufferable after too many minutes trapped in the same room as him. Although I must admit that having him sitting around the table with us makes a rather valued change, we're all so used to him eating in his bedroom playing a mindless game with himself."

Finn choked on the gulp of water he had just taken and flushed a furious red, glaring at his brother. "Kurt! That kinda stuff, it's private dude."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "I was referring to Call of Duty."

The awkward shift in atmosphere gave Rachel even more incentive to leave as quickly as possible, thanking Carole for a 'lovely' meal as she hurried out of the door, calling her goodbyes to Finn who was still bickering across the table with his step brother.

As soon as she got home, Rachel dashed upstairs to the bathroom, dropping to her knees beside the toilet and pushing her fingers down her throat, praying she had been gifted with a gag reflex in the year and a half since she had last tried. She retched, at first coming up with nothing, but the stomach full off food seemed to have weakened it considerably. The pasta looked even less appetising as it came back up her throat.

When she was done, she slumped on the floor, her leaning against the bath, weakly as the tears poured down her cheeks. She had always hated throwing up, and this time, there was no one there to comfort her, no one to hold her as she sobbed into the side of the bath her arm wrapped around her aching and empty stomach. But instead of feeling as if she had achieved anything, the only thought that went through Rachel's head as she slumped on her bathroom floor was that she didn't want to be pretty anymore.

...

The pad of Rachel's finger brushed under her eye as she carefully applied the concealer that would hide the dark bruises of exhaustion. Her hand felt cold on her face, sending a shiver through her tiny body. Students pushed in and out of the bathroom, not one of them giving her a second glance as she stood in front of the mirror, eyeing her body critically as she rubbed the make up into her face. Her cheeks were much to round, she would have to do something about that.

The bell for the first period rung through the halls, the sound carrying through to the bathroom, but Rachel made no move to leave. She didn't want to go to her class looking like she had just rolled out of bed, although that wasn't far from the truth. She had woken up late and only just had time to do a quick morning workout before flinging on some clothes and running to school to make up for what she hadn't managed to get in before leaving. Her hair still hung in loose curls around her face, as limp and lifeless as Rachel felt.

She winced suddenly and rubbed her temple gently. The first stabs of a headache had started when she rolled out of bed that morning and it had grown gradually worse throughout the day, not helped by her run into school. But worse than that was the difficulty she had in getting her breath back. Even now, twenty minutes after she had arrived, Rachel was struggling to breathe normally. She wasn't gasping, like she had been before, but she found herself having to draw deeper breaths than normal, which was proving a harder task than it should be.

Pushing away the growing feelings, Rachel continued to touch up on her make-up, making sure none of the tale tell signs of exhaustion, or in fact anything being wrong at all, were showing on her face. Finally, she was happy with the result and stood up straight from where she had been leaning over slightly to see into the mirror. All at once, she felt the same light headed sensation she had felt in Glee Club weeks ago, but this time, it came hundreds of times worse.

Her heart banged inside her chest, so hard, Rachel was afraid it would burst right out. She struggled to draw in air, the panic setting in as the breaths did nothing but catch in her throat, making it impossible to fill her lungs. The dizziness was getting worse, the bathroom becoming one huge blur of multi colours so one could not be told from the other. Rachel gasped, reaching blindly for the sink for something to hold onto, swaying dangerously were she stood.

I'm dying, was the last thought through Rachel's head before she collapsed to the ground and the bathroom faded away.

Last chapter next. Only knowing me, this will end up 100 chapters long, it was originally a one shot. My review button is flourishing with its new friendships, it would be lovely it it could carry them through to the end.

All you guys who review/add me to favourites/alerts etc are brilliant :)