A/N: You guys are so awesome! I've gotten so many favorite story and author alerts for this fanfic! And I've also gotten more reviews for this story than any of my other ones! I'm so glad that you like it :) So here's the next chapter! Please keep reading and reviewing! It's greatly appreciated.
Chapter Four: Self-Defense
Rachel Berry woke up the next morning, feeling like she had slept for a very long time. She knew that she was lying on Finn's chest – since beds didn't breathe – and she felt his arm around her. She couldn't help but smile with her eyes still closed, remembering how insanely perfect last night was.
They had made love twice; Finn was ready for more, but Rachel felt completely exhausted. That day had been stressful enough, and Rachel was pretty surprised that she had enough energy to have sex at all!
Rachel knew that they had yet another day ahead of them; this day would probably be filled with more boredom, a little worry, and maybe even some more love making. What Rachel really wished she could do was go out on a public date with her boyfriend, but she knew that they had to be responsible now. Things were so close to turning for the worse last night and she didn't want to run the risk of being almost killed again.
And she never wanted to be separated from Finn like that again, not knowing if he was alive or not. So, they had to stick to the hotel room and only leave if absolutely necessary. If they left the room too much, they could run the risk of being spotted by Nick or one of his little thugs. Rachel wasn't sure how many connections Nick had in the city and that thought made her nervous. Now she was going to be a paranoid mess whenever they did leave the room.
Not wanting to ruin the morning after a perfect night with Finn, Rachel stopped thinking about all things deadly and dangerous and opened her eyes. She tilted her head upwards and was surprised to see that Finn was awake, staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, you," Rachel said quietly.
Finn looked down at her and smiled widely. "Good morning, gorgeous," Finn said happily. Rachel blushed a little.
"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked, hoping that he wasn't harboring any regrets for last night. She sure wasn't.
"I feel like I can sleep a little longer," Finn said, chuckling. "What about you?"
"Right at this moment, I feel perfect," she said quietly, lying her head back down on Finn's chest. She felt him tighten his arm around her and kiss her on her head.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Finn asked.
Rachel thought for a moment. "How about we just lie here and never move again?" she asked, snuggling into Finn's broad chest some more.
Finn laughed. "That sounds awesome," he replied.
-glee-glee-glee-
Rachel wished they could have spent the rest of the day in bed, but they were low on food. Well, except for the pizza from last night, they didn't have any food.
"Are you sure it's safe to leave?" Rachel asked after stepping out of the bathroom. Her hair was still damp from her shower she had gotten earlier.
"I think we'll be okay, Rach," Finn said, sliding his shoes on. "We're near the middle of Times Square and there's a whole foods store practically right down the street from here. We should be safe. And if we're not…" Finn got up and walked over to the duffel bag and pulled out his gun. He put it in the waistband of his shorts and pulled his shirt down over it.
"You would use that in public?" Rachel asked, sounding shocked.
"If I had to, I would," Finn said honestly. "But you don't need to worry. I'm a cop, remember? I know when to shoot and when not to shoot and I have pretty awesome aim." He walked over to Rachel and kissed her on the forehead. "You have nothing to worry about."
Rachel nodded, not really believing him. There was a maniac trying to kill them; she had plenty to worry about. Finn walked in the bathroom but left the door open, so Rachel followed him. He was about to squeeze toothpaste on his toothbrush when Rachel asked him something that had been bothering her all morning.
"Finn? Did you have to shoot anyone last night?" she asked timidly. She looked up and saw that he had frozen with the tube of toothpaste in one hand and the toothbrush in another.
"Yes," he answered after a few moments.
"Did you kill them?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"No, babe," Finn said. "I don't kill people if I have another option."
Rachel took a deep breath before asking the next question. "Have you killed someone before?" she asked, fearing the answer.
Finn set down the items in his hands and turned to face her. "Almost. Once. It scared the crap out of me. I had just gotten out of the academy. It was my first burglary call and I got a gun pulled on me. I reacted the way I should have, by shooting the guy, but it still scared me."
Rachel looked down and nodded.
"Why do you want to know?" Finn asked.
"I think you should teach me how to use a gun," she said as firmly as she could.
"What for?" Finn asked, turning back toward the sink.
"Last night got me thinking… What if something happened to you and I had to defend you or myself and what if my only option was using a gun? I don't know how and in a situation like this, I think that should be something I know how to do…" Rachel said.
She heard Finn take a deep breath. She waited a few moments for his response.
"You're right," he eventually said.
"I am?" Rachel said, sounding shocked. "I thought you'd say it was too dangerous!"
"Well, it is, but you're right. I might not always be there to protect you. There's too many things that could happen. And while thinking of you holding a gun scares the crap out of me, you should know how to use one," Finn explained. "We'll go to the shooting range this afternoon. The sooner the better."
Rachel nodded. "Is it weird that I find this a little scary?" she asked, sounding slightly embarrassed.
"No," Finn said quickly, turning to look at her. "I'm scared every time I pick mine up. It's definitely not something to take lightly."
"You're right. But just out of curiosity… who do you think will be a better shot?" Rachel asked, feeling the competitiveness starting to sink in. Even though it involved using a deadly weapon, Rachel Berry hated to lose.
"Me. No question," Finn answered quickly and smugly.
"We'll see about that, Mr. Hudson," Rachel said indignantly, storming out of the bathroom. As soon as she was out of earshot, Finn had to laugh.
-glee-glee-glee-
"I hope you know how to cook this. I'm definitely not touching this without the wrapper," Rachel said, tossing the pack of bacon into the mini-fridge. They had just gotten back from the grocery store with their purchases.
"I've lived on my own since I was eighteen, Rach. I think I can cook bacon on my own. Plus, this is the microwaveable kind," Finn answered with a smirk.
"Good," Rachel said happily. "But you're washing the plate. My dads ate bacon and I know how gross and greasy it is."
Finn chuckled. "How much fruit did you have to buy, Rach?" Finn asked. He was emptying the bags of food as she put it away. So far she had a pack of blueberries, peaches, strawberries, apples, watermelon slices, and a couple of other things that he had never seen before but assumed were fruits.
"Fruit is very good for you, Finn," Rachel said like she was talking to a three year old. "And it was really the only thing we could afford right now. It was cheaper than buying stir fry or something like that."
"Whatever you say, babe," Finn said. He just couldn't imagine not eating meat. It was its own food group, so he was pretty sure that it was like a rule that you had to eat it. But Rachel didn't like it and he really didn't want to start an argument over their dietary needs.
A couple of minutes later, the majority of the food was put away. Rachel used a plastic knife and had started making herself a fruit salad while Finn made himself a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"Here, try this," Rachel said, holding up a piece of fruit. Finn stepped toward her and she popped it into his mouth.
Three seconds after chewing, Finn went over to the garbage can and spit it out. "What the hell was that?" Finn asked.
"It's pomegranate, Finn," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "It's good for you."
"It's disgusting," Finn countered. "I think I'll stick to meat and stuff."
"I'll find a way to get you to eat more healthily," Rachel said confidently, throwing the pieces of pomegranate into a Styrofoam bowl.
Finn didn't answer but rolled his eyes. He'd rather eat dirt than pomegranate ever again.
An hour after their lunches were eaten, Rachel reminded Finn for the third time that they still had to go to the shooting range.
"I know, Rach," Finn said aggravatedly. He was lounging on the bed, watching television again. "I haven't forgotten."
"Finn, I don't want to just sit here and waste the entire day!" Rachel said impatiently.
"Why the hell do you want to go so badly?" Finn asked angrily, sitting up. "It's like you're excited to learn how to kill someone the right way or something!"
Rachel glared at him. "That's not it at all! Sorry that I'm sitting here scared as hell that at any minute Nick's going to come through that door and kill us! This isn't fun and games for me, Finn! This is me not wanting to die!" when she was finished yelling at him, her chest was heaving. She was so scared and irritated and angry all at the same time.
Finn stood there with his mouth open for a second, at a loss for words.
"I'm sorry, Rach," Finn said after a few moments. "I'll call a cab."
-glee-glee-glee-
"Spread your legs a little. You need to stay balanced," Finn said from behind Rachel. They were at the shooting range and she was absolutely terrified with having a gun in her hand. Sure, it could help her protect herself, but could she actually kill someone?
Rachel spread her legs for balance and picked up the gun aiming it straight in front of her. The earplugs she was wearing were a bit annoying, but Finn insisted that she had to wear them; guns were pretty loud when you were the one shooting them. She also had goggles on, which were less annoying than the earplugs, but Finn insisted again that she needed them. She tried to tell him that she wouldn't be wearing either in the real world, but she let him have his way.
"When you're ready, fire the gun. But hold it tightly 'cause it kicks back a little," Finn instructed. He didn't like the idea of Rachel having to use the gun; that would mean that he wouldn't be around to help her. He had to shake those thoughts away and remind himself that this was something she needed to know. Even if he didn't survive this, she had to.
Rachel took a deep breath before closing one eye. She aimed the gun at the chest of the fake man on the piece of paper all the way across the shooting range. She held her breath as she fired. The gun did jerk backwards a little, catching her off guard. She set it down quickly, not quite liking the feeling of it. She turned to face Finn, who was staring at the piece of paper across the room.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"Look where you shot," Finn said, pointing. Rachel turned and saw that there was a bullet hole square in the chest of the target.
"Wow," Rachel said, slightly surprised by her aim. "I was only joking earlier about being a better shot. Now it kind of looks like I am."
She turned back to Finn and saw him looking at her disbelievingly. "It's just beginner's luck," Finn insisted. "Bet you can't do it again," he said confidently.
But she did.
Again and again and again until the gun was out of bullets.
"Holy shit," Finn said, sounding slightly dazed.
"We totally should have placed bets on this," Rachel said with a smile.
"What? Now you like firing a gun?" Finn asked.
"No. I just think that it's comforting knowing that I'll be able to hurt someone before they hurt me. Or you," she said quietly. Finn stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead.
"You're right," he said with a smirk. "Looks like we have nothing to worry about. Rachel Berry's going to save everyone with her uncanny precision."
Rachel giggled. "I don't know about that," she said modestly.
She stood there and watched as Finn fired the gun. She couldn't help but think that he looked kind of… hot. He was tall, strong, handsome, and totally capable of protecting both him and her. The fact that he loved someone like her was slightly mindboggling.
Once he was done firing the weapon, he turned the safety back on and placed it down. Then, he hit a button on the wall which brought his target toward him. Rachel watched as it came closer and closer. Most of his shots were toward the middle, but two of them were a little bit away from the center of the target.
"Who would have guessed that a tiny, aspiring Broadway performer would beat a police officer at his own game?" Rachel said smugly.
Finn shrugged. "It doesn't really bother me," he said nonchalantly. "But when this whole thing's over, I'm totally introducing you to some of my cop buddies. We're bringing them here and betting on you beating them." Finn smiled widely at her.
"You want to con police officers?" Rachel asked, sounding shocked.
"It sounds so bad when you say it like that," Finn said with a chuckle. "I just think my girlfriend's even hotter now." He stepped closer to her and placed his hands on either side of her waist, pulling her closer.
"You're looking pretty sexy, too," Rachel said with a smile. It was a pretty strange place for it, but Finn and Rachel bent towards each other and their lips met sweetly.
-glee-glee-glee-
"Oh, God! Just shut up already!" Finn moaned as they walked through the door to their room.
"Don't tell me to shut up!" Rachel shouted. She slammed the door behind her. "You were the one that started this!"
"You just expect me to sit there while someone flirts with my girlfriend?" Finn shouted incredulously.
"He was not flirting," Rachel said indignantly.
"He asked if you were single!" Finn shouted.
"He was just making conversation, Finn. You were unreasonably rude to him," Rachel said with a look of disapproval.
"All I did was call him a prick!" Finn yelled.
"And that was rude!" Rachel yelled back.
"You wanna know why me being mean to him bothers you so much?" Finn shouted. "You liked it! You wanna be an actress, right? You love people staring at you and giving you attention! Did you like that other guy messing with you at the bar? He was giving you attention, right?"
"I can't believe you would even say that!" Rachel yelled. "I turned him down for you, remember? You were the one I kissed in the street minutes later! Not him!"
"That still doesn't mean you didn't like it!" Finn yelled. "That's how all you attention whores act!" Rachel froze and glared at him.
"You have a nice night here by yourself, Finn," Rachel spat. She started to walk toward the door.
"Rach, where are you going?" Finn asked, slightly calmer.
She turned around with an icy stare. "I'm going to go get as much attention as I can from every man in New York since I like it so much," she said angrily. She turned back around and put her hand on the doorknob.
"Come on, Rach. Don't go," Finn said, instantly regretting his words. "I was just mad. I didn't mean it."
"It's too late for that, Finn," Rachel said. She pulled the door open and slammed it shut behind her. Finn was going to follow her, but he felt frozen there, realizing how badly he just screwed up.
-glee-glee-glee-
Rachel walked down the streets of New York City. It was starting to get dark, but the city showed no signs of slowing down.
She had been walking for a while now, trying to get rid of her anger and hurt. Sure, Rachel liked it when she was on stage, performing. She absolutely loved when people clapped for her and truly appreciated her talent. Granted, she hadn't received a standing ovation since high school, but she knew that she would get to relive that experience sometime in her life. Rachel Berry needed applause to live. Like Tinkerbell.
But for Finn to insist that she loved attention from men hurt pretty badly. She wasn't one to stray in a relationship; she stayed honest and devoted and faithful to the person she was with. And Rachel didn't think that the cab driver was really flirting with her. He was just trying to be one of those nice, nosy people that tell you their whole life story within five minutes of meeting you. He seemed nice, but Finn was her boyfriend and she wasn't attracted to the cab driver at all.
Rachel still loved Finn; he just had a terrible temper and could be really mean without even realizing it. She knew that it wouldn't take either of them very much longer to cool down at that they would apologize to one another soon. She couldn't stay mad at him. The first reason was because she loved him and she was pretty sure that you could forgive your first real true love for anything. The second reason was because they had to live together and that would make things too awkward.
There was still a fairly large amount of people walking up and down the sidewalks; it was just around the time when everyone got off work.
That's why Rachel was sure that she was seeing things when she thought she spotted Nick walking down the street toward her.
She closed her eyes for a second before opening them back up and focusing again. Her gaze landed on the sickeningly familiar face.
It was Nick. And he had two huge guys with him.
Suddenly in a panic, Rachel ducked quickly into a store, praying to God and Jesus and Buddha and whoever else would listen, that Nick hadn't seen her.
She spotted a payphone on the wall near the entrance and reached into her pocket. "Damn!" she whispered. She didn't have any cash on her; it was all in their room. But she did have Finn's credit card. Crossing her fingers, she went up to the cashier. Rachel pulled out some of her impeccable acting skills and made it seem like she was calmer than she really was.
"Hi," Rachel said pleasantly to the cashier. "I really need to make an urgent phone call but I only have a credit card on me. Is there any way that you can help me?" The young woman smiled at Rachel.
"Sure," she said. "Just buy something and I'll add an extra fifty cents for the phone call and we can charge it on your credit card. I'll give you the change."
"Thank you so much," Rachel said happily. "You're a life saver." Rachel grabbed Finn's favorite candy bar – a Snickers – and handed it over to the cashier.
Rachel made the transaction and was handed fifty cents. "Have a great night," the woman said.
"Thanks. I will," Rachel said with a smile. If I live that long, Rachel thought to herself.
She put the money into the payphone and hit "0" to dial the operator.
"The McKinley Hotel, please," she said to the operator. She waited as the call connected and a hotel employee answered. "Can you please connect me to Room 105?"
Rachel waited as the phone rang. It rang twice and Rachel was starting to worry that Finn wouldn't answer.
Then, on the last ring, he did.
"Hello?" he said warily.
"Finn! It's Rachel," she said.
"Rach! I was so worried! Where the hell are you?" he asked.
"I'm at a store on Ninth Street. I saw Nick, Finn," she said in a low voice.
"What?" he practically yelled into the phone. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm positive. I don't think he saw me, but I'm scared to walk back on my own," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry for leaving again."
"We'll talk when we get back to the room. Just stay in the store. I'm on my way. Keep an eye out for me," Finn said, sounding slightly rushed.
"I will. I love you," Rachel said.
"I love you too, babe," Finn said. She could hear the smile in his voice and it made her smile as well. Then the line went dead.
So now, she just had to wait.
-glee-glee-glee-
It felt like she had been waiting forever, but Rachel only had to wait ten minutes before she spotted Finn walking quickly down the street. She smiled before walking out of the store. Finn spotted her immediately and smiled. She found herself walking quickly toward him, too.
"I'm so sorry," she said once she was in his arms.
"Don't worry about it," Finn said, hugging her tightly. "I'm just glad that you're alright."
"That definitely could have ended badly," she said. Finn let go of her and looked down at her hand.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the candy bar.
"Oh. I had to buy this to get change for the payphone," she said. She handed it to him. "It's your favorite."
Finn chuckled. "Thanks, babe," he said. "Now let's get back to the room before someone tries to kill us."
"Sounds like a plan," she said.
Both her and Finn were on high alert on the way back to the hotel. They kept looking around them, feeling paranoid that they'd turn the corner and run right into Nick.
They were both highly relieved when they walked into their hotel room, unscathed. Finn locked the door before turning back to Rachel. She sat down on the edge of the bed and he joined her.
"I think I need to start by apologizing for what I said earlier. It was really mean and I shouldn't have said it," Finn said. "I just kinda get word vomit and say stupid stuff without thinking first."
"Trust me, I know," Rachel said with a small smile. "And I forgive you. But I also need to apologize for storming out yet again. I realize now that doing something like that is too dangerous at a time like this. I'll be sure to just lock myself in the bathroom the next time we argue."
"Good," Finn said with a chuckle. "I really was worried." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him.
"Again, I'm sorry," Rachel said, sounding slightly ashamed. "I know how stressed you are already and it was irresponsible of me to add to that."
"Don't worry about it, babe," Finn insisted. "You're here now. And you're safe and not pissed at me. That's all that matters."
Rachel smiled. "You're right. But I still think we should relieve some stress. It'll be good for both of us," she said with a smile.
Finn smirked. "What did you have in mind?" he asked, inching his head closer and closer to hers.
Their lips touched. "I think you know exactly what I have in mind," Rachel whispered into his lips. She ran a hand down his chest slowly, getting closer and closer to the growing bulge in his pants.
"Totally," Finn whispered back. He and Rachel laid down on the bed with their lips still connected. Then they reenacted last night's epic lovemaking.
-glee-glee-glee-
TBC
A/N: I personally love it when Finn and Rachel bicker. And the run in with Nick in this chapter was pretty close, but that's nothing compared to what's coming up! Stay tuned, guys and girls! And please keep reading and reviewing! I have tons of homework and studying to do, but the next chapter should be up within the next couple of days!