Rachel's dads hadn't wanted her to stay with Finn but she'd been adamant. In the end, they knew that she would be safe at his house and relented. Carol and Burt didn't have a problem with it, so Finn had taken Rachel back to her house to pick some stuff up and then driven her to the Hummel-Hudson household.

They were both exhausted when they walked into the house. Carol hugged Finn tightly; she and Burt had been searching at the other end of town for Jacob, but she'd heard about what Finn and Puck had done. "Has anyone heard how the boy's doing?" Burt asked Rachel.

Rachel shook her head. "I haven't heard anything," she said. "Finn wants to go to the hospital, but I convinced him that we can wait until the morning."

Carol let go of Finn to grab Rachel in a hug. "How are you, Rachel?"

"I'm good," Rachel said, smiling tiredly and hugging her back.

Carol pulled back and stared into her face. "You two go on downstairs and get some rest," she said.

"Love you guys," Finn said, putting his arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"Love you too," Carol told him. When Finn and Rachel were out of sight, she turned to Burt. "Do you think they'll be okay?"

Burt pulled her to him for a hug. "I think they'll have to be," he told her.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Rachel walked over to Finn's bed and fell into it. Finn lay down beside her and she curled into him. "I feel like all I do lately is cry," she said thickly.

Finn stroked her hair. "It's been a rough week, Rach," Finn told her. "Cry if you need to."

"I have this ball of feelings in my chest and I'm not sure what they mean or what they are," she told him. "It's just this tight, achy feeling."

"Are they always there or do they go away?" he asked her.

She thought about it for a moment. "There are times that they're dimmer, but they're always there."

"What's going on when they're dimmer?"

"I'm with you," she said, smiling. She propped her head up on her arm and looked down at him. "You scared me tonight. I was so afraid you were going to fall."

"I didn't, though," he reminded her softly.

Rachel nodded. "I thought Jacob was dead." She shook her head. "It's just too much. Why are they doing this to us?"

"Because they're cowards," Finn told her. "We'll find out who it is, Rach. I promise."

"How?"

"Puck and I are going to visit Karafosky tomorrow, see what he knows. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Rachel sighed. "I need to change into my pajamas," she said, getting up. A knock at the top of the steps warned them of Kurt's arrival.

"I just dropped Blaine off at his house," Kurt told them, hugging Rachel. "I'm glad you're here," he told her.

Rachel smiled at her friend. "Me too," she said. "I'm going to go get changed. You two can talk." Both sets of eyes followed her up the stairs.

"She looks like she's about to fall apart," Kurt told Finn.

Finn nodded, then fell back on his bed. "She's stronger than she looks, but even the strongest person would struggle with what she's had to go through lately."

"What about you?" Kurt asked him, dumping some of Finn's laundry into the floor to sit on his chair.

"I'm trying to hold it together," he told his brother.

"And how's that working out for you?" Kurt said, watching him.

Finn looked at him. "I don't know," he admitted. "I honestly don't know."

"You probably saved Puck's life," Kurt told him. "If not his life, then you at least kept him from breaking most of the bones in his body."

"Yeah," Finn said. "I didn't really think about what I was doing."

"And that's why you're such a great leader," Kurt told him. "It's natural."

Finn shrugged. "If I was such a great leader, my friends wouldn't still be getting hurt."

"That's not true," Kurt told him. "We're doing the best we can. If it makes any difference, you're officially my hero."

Finn grinned at his brother. "Thanks, man."

Kurt nodded. "I just wish you'd dress better."

Finn threw his pillow at Kurt's head. Laughing, Kurt stood up. "I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to go up and moisturize and then sleep for about ten hours."

Rachel came back down the stairs in her pj's. "Your pajamas remind me of a twelve year old's, Rachel," Kurt told her, smiling. "A cute one, though."

Rachel laughed and looked down at the cami and shorts she was wearing. They had smiling stars all over them. "I like them," she told Kurt.

"I like them too," Finn said from the bed, looking at her.

"Oh dear, it is definitely time for me to leave," Kurt said, kissing Rachel on the cheek.

Rachel walked over to the bed, dropping her bag in the chair Kurt had just vacated. Getting her brush out of the bag, she walked over to Finn's mirror and began running it through her hair. Finn watched her for a minute, realizing he wasn't nearly as tired as he'd thought he was. "What did Kurt say?" Rachel asked him.

"Nothing, really," Finn told her, sitting up.

"I wonder how everyone else is holding up," she said after a moment. "This has to be stressful on them too."

Finn nodded. "I'm sure it is." He stood up. "I'm more worried about you, though," he told her, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

She met his eyes in the mirror. "I'm going to be okay," she told him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. "Are you?"

"I think so." He bent his head and kissed her neck. "You smell good."

Rachel closed her eyes and leaned back against him. "I loved you before, you know." She put her hand over his clasped ones. "I really did. But now…with everything that's happened and the way we're both changing…" she opened her eyes and met his in the mirror. "It's so much more now."

Finn nodded. He knew what she meant. He'd always cared about Rachel; he'd loved her for almost as long as he'd known her. But now it was different. It was stronger, deeper. He walked backwards, towards the bed, pulling her with him. Rachel set her brush back on her bag and followed him. He sank down into the bed, pulling her down next to him. Rachel's head lay on his arm and she put her leg over his. Placing soft kisses along his jaw line, she whispered, "I love you so much."

Finn closed his eyes, his hand clenching the fabric of the pajamas at her waist. Just being around Rachel was enough to drive his body crazy. When she was wearing so little, kissing him, and lying in his bed, he felt like he was going to explode at any minute. Finn turned his head and his lips caught hers in a tender kiss. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he said against her lips.

Rachel pulled back and looked at him. "Why?'

Finn groaned and put his head back on his pillow. "You drive me crazy," he told her. Rolling his head so he was looking at her, he smiled slightly. "The way you smell and the sounds you make and the softness of your skin…you're magic."

Rachel smiled at him. "I'm magic?"

Finn rolled back onto his side and grinned at her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. "You're magic," he said again, kissing her. He pulled her tighter to him, tangling his hand in her hair. Deepening the kiss, Rachel's tongue caressed his. Finn's hand left her hair and moved down her arm, cupping her butt. He moved his hips into hers, rubbing himself against her.

Rachel gasped, pulling away. "No," she said, trembling. "Stop."

Finn felt as if she'd poured ice water on him. Quickly putting distance between them, he watched her sit up and put her face in her hands, crying. "Oh God, Rach, I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't think about what I was doing. I was so stupid."

Rachel threw her arms around his neck, shaking her head. "I'm sorry," she said, sobbing. "I didn't mean to say that. I know it's you, I know you'd never hurt me."

Finn held her. "Honey, you were attacked just a few days ago. I should have never…" he broke off, sighing. "I'm sorry."

"Will you hold me?" Rachel asked, looking up at him. "Will you still hold me while I go to sleep?"

"Of course," he told her, once again lying beside her. "I'm with you, Rachel. I'm always going to be with you. Go to sleep and dream of good things."

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he said. He held her long after she fell asleep, watching her face in the moonlight. He was still wearing his jeans, so he knew he'd have to get up and change eventually, but he didn't want to disturb her. An hour later, he heard the phone ring upstairs and decided that he'd get changed into his pajamas and run upstairs for something to drink. Looking at the clock, he realized how late it was and wondered why someone would be calling at this time.

"Finn," his mom called from the top of the stairs as he changed. "Finn, honey, are you up?"

"Yeah," he called quietly to his mom. "Hold on a second." He pulled his pajama pants up and climbed the stairs.

"Finn, Leroy just called," Carol told him when he reached the top.

"What's going on?" he asked worriedly.

"Someone threw a large rock into Rachel's bedroom window tonight," she told him.

"What the fuck?" Finn said, then, "Sorry Mom." He ran his hand through his hair. "Are they okay?"

Carol nodded. "They're fine," she told him. "They're glad Rachel wasn't there."

"Who's doing this?" he asked. "Why are they doing this?"

Carol hugged him. "People don't like to change," Burt said, coming into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. "This new anti-bullying policy is basically telling them they can't be who they are anymore."

"So they're mad they can't be assholes anymore?" He flinched. "Sorry, Mom."

Burt shrugged, sitting at the table. "That would be my guess."

"This is such bullsh- crap," Finn said. "The school is supposed to be safer now."

"You've been standing up, Finn. That's brave of you. But when you stand against something, you make enemies," Burt told him.

"So I should just sit back and do nothing?" Finn asked angrily.

"No, you should do exactly what you're doing," Burt told him. "But you need to be prepared for things like this."

"Rachel is about to break," Finn told them, leaning against the wall. "I can feel it. Something like this…" He shook his head.

"Her dads don't want you to tell her about it," Carol told him.

"What?"

"They've got someone over fixing the window right now. By the time Rachel gets home tomorrow, she'll never be able to tell anything happened."

"So I'm supposed to lie to her?"

Carol frowned. "Finn, it's up to you to do what you want. Her father's would like to keep it from her. Whether or not you do is up to you."

Finn let out a long breath. "I'll think about it," he told them.

"How are you doing?" Burt asked him.

"I just feel like too much is going on," Finn told him. "It's like I can't process all of it."

"You need to get some sleep," Burt told him. "Carol and I are going to be up for a while; we're watching a movie. You can stand down." He smiled a little.

Finn nodded. "I'll see you guys in the morning." On his way down the steps, he realized that his mom and Burt were probably going to be up because they were worried someone would throw a rock into one of the windows in the house. "Shit," he mumbled to himself.

Rachel was curled up in the middle of his bed. He smiled as he looked down at her. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world. If only that were true. Sighing, Finn sat in the chair beside his bed, putting his face in his hands. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to find the people responsible for this and beat the shit out of them. He needed to protect Rachel. After everything that had been done to her, he couldn't stand for her to go through more.

He picked his cell phone up from his bedside table and texted Puck, telling him about Rachel's window and asking if he'd heard about anything else happening. A few minutes later Puck texted him back and told him that they were going to kill the bastards that kept messing with Rach and that as far as he knew, everyone else was fine. Finn stared at his phone for a few more minutes, then put it down. He moved slowly into the bed, careful not to wake Rachel. Putting his arm around her, he wondered if things would look better in the morning.