Hey Guys! I'm sorry this is one took me a while to write! I'm getting close to finishing my college summer classes and things have been busy. But anyway, here's chapter 16! This chapter title is from "I want to know what love is" by the Foreigner's. I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!

That following Monday after she had the weekend to clear her head and cry over her failed audition, Rachel found herself stomping into the theater.

"Jessie!? Where are you!?" Rachel yelled. She had been wanting to give Jessie a piece of her mind ever since she humiliated herself in front of the producers.

Rachel looked around for a minute until she saw Jessie come out of one of the dressing rooms. He already had his costume on but his back was towards her.

Rachel stomped toward him. "Jessie! Hey! I need to talk to you!"

Jessie continued to walk away ignoring Rachel.

"Jessie! Don't walk away from me! We need to talk."

But Jessie wouldn't stop. In fact, he was jogging away from her. But he did answer back, "Leave me alone Rachel," he said in a low growl.

Of course, Rachel was full of fury and was not afraid to let out the full diva in her. Rachel continued to follow Jessie until he reached the stage.

Finally catching up to him, Rachel reached an arm out stopped Jessie.

"Jessie! Why the hell did you lie to me about knowing one of the producers!?" When Jessie didn't answer, Rachel only got even more furious. "Jessie, turn around and look at me!"

When Jessie didn't do it fast enough, Rachel yanked him back to look at her. Rachel heard a small gasp escape her lips. Jessie's face was messed up. Two black eyes, swollen lip and bruises all over his face.

"Jessie, what the hell happened to you!?"

Jessie scoffed. "Rachel, I told you to leave me alone. I'm not talking to you."

Rachel shook her head. Hey eyes were full of fury. "No! We are talking now. Why did you lie to me? What was your goal?"

Jessie gave her a death glare and starred at her for several long moments. Finally he spoke, "I wanted to get your trust."

Rachel blinked at him before yelling at him again, "My trust!? For what!?"

Jessie held his stare. "I thought I might have loved you Rachel."

Rachel gasped loudly. "WHAT!?"

Jessie scoffed. "You heard what I said Rachel."

Rachel now gave him her own death glare. "I only saw you as my best friend! Well, actually, ex-best friend! And for your information, I'll have you know, that I would never love someone like you."

Jessie let out a bitter laugh. "Oh yeah? Like your husband?!"

"Why are you bringing Finn into this? He didn't do anything to you. In fact, Finn has been trying to fix our relationship."

Jessie laughed even harder. "Oh your husband did something alright." Jessie stomped forward until he was face to face with Rachel. "Who do you think did this to my face huh? Your husband! He surprised me a few days and went all Frankenstein on me and told me to stay away from you!"

Rachel stood there silent. Did she actually hear that right? Finn really did that for her?

Jessie scoffed her. "I think he was right telling me to stay away from her. You are obviously way to hot head and don't like to have any fun. You're just the biggest diva bitch I've ever known who only cares about herself. I could see why Finn would want to leave you. Can't say I don't blame him."

Rachel stood there for a second. One second later, she lifted her hand and smacked Jessie across the face and he let out a yell of pain.

Jessie looked at her in surprise and anger. Rachel then stalked up to him and stared at him. She then spoke in a deep, firm voice, "Do not mock me. I'm not the one who lies to try and get with people who are married. And Finn, is better man than you'll ever be. Now get the hell out of here. I'm having my rehearsal in here. You're needed in the other room with the rest of the chorus."

With that said, Jessie walked off the stage and towards the door. Before he left, he turned around and said bitterly, "I know you still love him. You keep on denying it but I can see right through you. I better hold on to him while he's still around….if he's still around after a while that is." Then Jessie left.

Rachel took a deep breath and drank some of her water and started to practice her dancing. Then Jessie's words clicked to her.

I know you still love him.

Finn and Puck just finished cleaning the fire trucks. It was a warm summer day and they haven't had many calls. So they used the time to clean and replace supplies for the fire trucks. They also took time to clean their work stations and go through paper work. Hey, stuff needed to be done but you don't always have the time when you're on call.

Puck was now grilled burgers and hotdogs for lunch. Finn then started a conversation.

"So I took that first step."

Puck turned from the grill to look at Finn, his eyes held some confusion. "First step?"

Finn chuckled. "I took the first step by talking to Rachel about our relationship."

Puck put the spatula down, went over to his friend and sat down next to him and patted his back. "Really? Tell me what happened dude."

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "I told her that I wanted to spend the rest of my life to make sure you is okay. I also apologized to her."

Puck nodded. "And what did you say?"

Finn sighed. "Well, she said that she wasn't sure how to process my apology. She said she wanted to believe that my apology was real and she told me that she wasn't ready to trust me again."

Puck sighed and patted Finn's back again. "That's rough buddy. Quinn said the same thing to me the first time I apologized. But I didn't give up on her. I know it might be hard right now, but I think you guys are endgame. Don't give up yet."

Finn nodded. "I don't plan on giving up without a fight. I meant what I said to her when I told her that I would spend the rest of my life making sure she was ok. I don't care if she hates me or not. I'm going to love her still."

Puck grinned at his best friend and stood up and went back over to the grill and flip the burgers. "Sounds like you got your head out of your ass dude. I'm proud of ya."

Finn smiled. "Thanks, man."

Puck smirked at his best friend. "Okay, enough of this sissy shit. Do you want one of my kick ass burgers and hot dogs? I have no trouble eating them by myself!"

Finn chuckled and got up to help his best friend. Geez, it's good to have real friends who get who life is.

Rachel found herself at the same coffee shop that Tina had introduced Mercedes to her. In fact, she had called Mercedes to talk to her. One reason being because of what was happened her Finn and Jessie, and to apologize for being so rude to her. Mercedes was just too nice of a person to be treated like that.

As if right on cue, Mercedes walked in and went over to the table and gave Rachel a soft smile.

"Hello, Mercedes." Rachel said softly.

"Hey, Rachel." Mercedes said gently.

Rachel looked down at her cup of tea. "How have you been?" Rachel asked in a whisper. Rachel felt vulnerable and she didn't want to let Mercedes see that…then again, maybe.

Mercedes studied her for a moment before speaking a little more loudly but kind, "Girl, I can ask you the same question. You look like you have a lot on you mind."

Seriously, why is she so good with reading people? Rachel looked out at Mercedes for a long moment before she went on talking very fast. "I-I wanted to say first that I'm sorry. So, so sorry. You were right about Jessie, Mercedes. You didn't deserve to be treated like that at all. I-"

"Girl, breath." Mercedes said with her hand up. Mercedes wasn't angry at all, in fact she was smiling. Rachel was thinking it must have been the way she was talking to so fast.

"But, I thought you would be angry with me after the way I treated you." Rachel said in confusion.

Mercedes frowned. "Ray, I was never angry with you. I was sad to see you hurt and I didn't want you to make a decision that might have affected you for the rest of your life."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a bad feeling about Jessie. You might have not known this, but I have clients who are also young Broadway stars like you that need counseling. I sometimes have to go to theatres to meet with them because they are so busy."

Rachel nodded. Yeah she knew how busy some of the stars were. She worked about fifty hours a week but she even knew people who worked more than that.

Mercedes then continued. "I happened to be at the theatre at one point to meet with a client and I happened to see you and Jessie talking. But, the way that boy was looking at you," Mercedes shook her head. "I didn't trust that white boy. I don't trust any guy who tries to hit on a woman while she is married or in a relationship already."

Rachel nodded her head. Mercedes really was a very observable person. That's what makes her a great counselor.

"Well, you were right," Rachel said. "Jessie was trying to hit on me. I think it's my fault. I enjoyed the attention before I realized that he was trying to get into a deeper relationship than a friendship. But I know I told him about my relationship with Finn a little bit. I just…can't believe I was so stupid."

"Rachel, you are not stupid. We all make mistakes but Jessie took advantage of your guy's friendship to try to go deeper that just couldn't happen."

Rachel felt tears burn into her eyes. She looked Mercedes for a second. She then felt her lips quiver and a few tears roll down her cheeks.

Mercedes reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed. "It's okay, Rachel." She said gently.

Rachel let out a sob. "I-I'm so sorry. I just. J-Just give me a minute, I-"

"Rachel, it's okay. Let it out. Tell me everything."

Rachel let out a few more sobs. "Jessie lied to me about knowing one of the producers from Funny Girl. I wanted to be in that show for so long as Fanny Brice, and when I went to audition, I mentioned Jessie to them and none of them knew him! I swear Mercedes, I had never been so embarrassed in my life!"

"Are you still friend with Jessie?"

Rachel wiped her eyes with a tissue from her purse. "No. Never again. I actually got into a fight with him about that and that's when he told me he loved me."

Mercedes shook her head. "I don't blame you for hating him. That white boy's got a lot of nerve."

Rachel chuckled. "Yeah, but when I confronted him, he had bruises, two black eyes and cut on his bottom lip. When I asked him about it, he had told me Finn did it to him." Rachel said quietly.

Mercedes stared at her before she laughed. Her laugh was really louder and rather funny. Rachel found her laugh to be very amusing.

"Oh! There you go white boy! Hudson done well! ," Mercedes exclaimed through a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked. She tried to keep a frown off of her face but she found that hiding a smile was difficult at the situation that just took place.

Mercedes, however stopped laughing. "Well Ray, I went to over to you apartment the day after I saw you with Jessie and I told Finn what was going on."

Rachel eyes grew wide. She found herself at a loss for words. Then finally, she asked only one thing, "Why" she said quietly.

"I wanted to make sure Finn knew so he could keep an eye out for on you. I just didn't want to see you get hurt and I knew how hurt Finn would be if he found out later."

Rachel couldn't help the smile on her face. "Well, Finn and I did talk once."

Mercedes blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Rachel nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Yes."

"Well, my joy, tell me! What happened?"

Rachel looked down and sighed. "It was the night I got the call about my audition to hear if I made the cast. And, well, I didn't get Fanny. I was so upset and Finn came home and heard me crying. Then we just talked."

"About what?"

"About our relationship. He apologized to me and he told me he was going to fight for me. That he wanted to spend the rest of his life to make sure that I was ok."

Mercedes gave her a small smile, but she knew Rachel had more to say. "I see. Continue."

"Well, I told him that I wasn't sure how to respond to that proposition and that I wasn't ready to trust him again. I also asked him if I could have time to think about it all which he had no trouble with."

Mercedes nodded. "And now that you've had some time, what do you think you're going to do about it?"

Rachel shook her head. "I don't know Mercedes. I can't go backwards if this doesn't work."

Mercedes nodded again understanding before saying, "Sometimes you gotta go backwards to go forwards. I know, I've been there."

Rachel starred at her in confusion. "What do you mean? How could you know about something like this?"

Mercedes looked down. "Well, you do know my husband Sam Evan right?"

"Of course. And?"

"Well, a couple of years after we were married, we split up for a year."

Rachel blinked. A whole year? Wow, that had to be hard.

Mercedes then continued. "Being by myself for a while, I realized that my former career, which was being a TV. actress at the time, was killing my marriage. After realizing that, I quit. I realized that I loved Sam more than any career and I wasn't going to happy if I didn't have him on my side again. So, I went back to him after I quit and I begged him to forgive me for not paying any attention to him and for putting myself first before him." Mercedes took a deep breath. "We had to go through a lot of counseling but, I can say he's my best friend then and he is still today."

Rachel's mouth was opened in complete shock. Here she was, thinking that Mercedes had it all together. But then again, never judge a book by its cover.

Mercedes then talked again, "Rachel I just wanted you to know that. You seem like a person that needed someone who gets it. I just hope my story encourages you to fight for your marriage. Do you still love him?"

Rachel sighed. "I-I'm not sure. I-I think I do. But I'm just studying him right now to see if he's really in it for the long run." Rachel gave Mercedes a small smile. "I think once I know, I'll tell him."

Mercedes nodded. "I'd try listing reasons why you love Finn and why you married him. Just know that we only have so many days, Rachel."

Rachel nodded, "Yeah. That'd a good idea. I might actually try that."

Mercedes smiled but then her phone went off. After she answered it, she then grabbed her coat and purse. "Well Ray, it's been nice, but I got to run. Sam and I have a date tonight."

Rachel then stood up and gave Mercedes a hug. "Alright see ya, Mercedes." And with that Mercedes left, leaving Rachel alone with her thoughts.

That night, Rachel found herself in the guest bedroom. She had a piece of paper and was trying to think of the reasons why she fell in love with Finn and why she married him. It was hard, but she needed to do this.

Unable to get the motivation, Rachel left the room and into the bedroom Finn was sleeping in very quietly. She looked at the dresser and saw a lot of photos framed there. When she steeped closer, she saw one of her and Finn on the wedding day, one on their honeymoon, some shows of hers and their some of their dates. Rachel smiled. Finn certainly was gentleman.

Rachel then looked over at Finn sleeping form. His hair was already messy and he had no shit on. But he looked so peaceful in his sleep. She couldn't help how handsome he looked. Rachel then gently stroked his jaw line wither fingertips and that caused Finn to mumble.

Not wanting to risk Finn waking up, Rachel slipped out of the room and back into the guest bedroom. After seeing those pictures, Rachel looked down at the paper. Nothing. But she wasn't giving up. She would find out the reasons why she fell in love and married Finn Hudson.

Cliffhanger! (Don't hate me! It's all part of the storyline!) So I will be finishing up this story. I thought about having only 17 chapters but then I thought Rachel needed some time to heal and get some guidance that Finn did. There is one more chapter and then an epilogue! (If there is any changes I'll let you know.) What do you think is going to happen? I'm really excited for the next chapter! I think you guys will like it. ;) Please leave a review and tell me what you think! You guys rock!