Chapter 19

Loud ringing sounded through the slightly lit room that Rachel came to enjoy. As she sat up, she sighed in frustration seeing as though her perfectly well needed rest was interrupted. the clock on the side of the bed read 7:23 am, at least an hour later than she wanted to be up. Picking up the IPhone in her hands, she rolled her eyes when the caller id listed across the screen. In a slow pace, she hit ignore deciding to call back when her eyes weren't drooping shut. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and her head hit the pillow once again.

It was almost three weeks from the day that she was almost killed. Although her broken bones still gave her trouble, things were definitely way better than she thought they would be all those weeks ago. Her face was clearing up from all of the bruising, the brush burns and cuts on her wrists were down to barely noticeable, and she had managed to excel in walking on crutches and getting around places without as much struggle like the beginning. She was still asked to stay home from work due to her totally noticeable disabilities, but if things continued to go the way they were going now, she'd be back soon.

The only thing that bothered her now was the constant fear of everything around her. Another situation, the major PTSD that sometimes kept her up all night. Some days she would be fine, and then the next thing you know, she's hearing Mandy's voices in her head and then she's screaming or crying, and in some occasions, pleading for her life to her imagination. Another thing that bothered her was the constant phone calls that sometimes kept her up all night as well. Ever since everyone found out about the incident, which Rachel thought was a better word than how she got kidnapped by a crazy woman who wanted her dead, her phone never stopped ringing. Especially her parents. Rachel was glad to know that everyone cared for her well being enough to constantly check in, but in some way, she just wished she had a small amount of time to get away and catch her breath.

Tossing and turning, she finally realized that her sleep was officially ruined. Getting up, she grabbed her crutches on the side of the bed and silently moved out of the room. Making her way into the bathroom, she sighed when she turned on the light. The dark blues and purples around her eyes were now a greenish color. Looking in the mirror every morning was now a routine. It was a sort of motivation for Rachel. It showed her that she had gotten out and that she didn't die. These bruises on her face and scars and broken bones were signs that she was a fighter and she'd carry that with her for the rest of her life.

Turning off the bathroom light, she maneuvered over to the kitchen. Turning on the morning news, and made a pot of coffee. She sighed with relief when the familiar smell filled the air and her nose. Smiling, she made her way over to the counter and sat down on one of the bar stools to wait for it to be done. When the timer finally went off, she got up and tried to reach for the cabinet. She cursed the fact that she was really short and these crutches were a huge disadvantage. Finally, by a small jump, she grabbed the lowest cup without managing to injure herself.

She hated how hard it was to be on crutches. She was getting used to them and learning how to get around, but they were still a huge burden. She also hated that they were the only things she had to depend on. One small slip, and bam, she'd be injured all over again. She wanted to just throw them out and walk on her own. But, like the doctor said, her kneecap was shattered from the blow from the bat and she would recover at a slower pace than a regular broken leg.

Another thing she hated was being treated like she was a five year old who couldn't do anything for herself. Rachel loved Finn with all of her heart, but he was the one to do it most. He would freak at the slightest moment she tried to do something that seemed dangerous to him. If he was in the kitchen this morning, he would have probably lectured her for reaching for the coffee cup. She knew he was still recovering from all of this as well and that he's very protective over her, but she hated it.

Sitting at the counter with the cup of coffee in her hands, her mind trailed off. Especially after the incident that started to occur more often. Rachel could be having a full conversation with someone and it will still happen. It happens mostly when she's alone, or when no one is talking to her. Her thoughts that wrapped her up? Mandy. Everywhere Rachel went, she was in the back of her mind. Waiting so patiently to ruin any happiness that she would feel. It was like Mandy was haunting Rachel from jail. This bothered her the most.

Staring blankly ahead, Rachel watched herself plead for her life with the blonde hovering over her with a smile on her face and a bat in her hands. That last moment played over and over in Rachel's mind. It was like a broken record to her. This last memory was the reason for her PTSD. That last memory of that awful day was the reason she couldn't return to living her life normally.

Looking down at her coffee cup in her hands, she felt the small trickling of the tears going down her cheeks. Instead of wiping them away, she let others fall. Before she knew it sobs were escaping from her throat. She didn't care.

"You're so weak. It's pathetic, really." Mandy's voice filled her mind.

"You're right, I am weak. I am pathetic. Just look at me, i'm broken because I couldn't fight for myself." Rachel whispered, listening to the voices in her head as she continued to let the tears fall. That feeling returned to Rachel. The one she'd been trying to push away lately. A feeling of resentment in herself. A feeling of low self-esteem and pity for her being. The voices in her head of Mandy weren't really helping.

Getting lost in her thoughts, she didn't realized that the chair on the side of her was moving and someone was getting into it. Looking to her side, Finn was looking at her. Reaching out his hand, he wiped away the tears that were falling from her face.

"You're not weak or pathetic Rachel. You're a fighter. You're broken because you fought with all you had inside of you. You're still alive because you fought to get out. If you were weak or pathetic, you would have let her kill you. You're far from that, Rachel." he whispered in her ear as he placed a hand over hers.

"She's everywhere I go, Finn. I can't shake her off. Her voices are in my head and that horrible laugh, it's always there. She won't go away." Rachel cried. "Every time I try to shake her off, this horrible memory plays through my head. I'm on the ground pleading for my life and she's hovered over me with that smile on her face and the bat pulled back, ready to wing and kill me. The image never goes away, Finn. Everything that happened in that basement is on a constant replay in my head. It's all like a freaking broken record and i'm sick of it."

"You never told me that." he said slowly, staring at her.

"I was too scared to, because every time I think of it, I get one step closer from falling off the rails that are keeping me sane." she explains, wiping a few more stray tears.

"I think I know what you need." Finn says.

"What?" she asked, calming down. "What do you think I need?" she asked.

"A distraction. A get away from all of this seriousness." he says.

"What are you talking about Finn?" she asked, curiosity creeping up on her face.

"Let's get away from the city for a few days. Just you and me. No drama, or caring. Just a few days of oblivion and ignorance from the real world. What do you say?" he explained.

"I say that you're crazy, Finn Hudson. I can't take a random trip. Finn, have you forgotten that i'm on crutches?" she asked.

"C'mon, please say yes, babe. We need this. You and I, we need a break from all of this pain and stuff. We need a moment to have fun and take a few breaths. I promise just a few days and then we'll come back and start over with our lives. We deserve this, Rach. Please.." he begged.

Rachel hated when he did this. Every time he begged, he pulled out his puppy dog face and eyes. Which, was very unfortunate for Rachel, because that was always her loss to the argument. Damn him and his cuteness.

"Okay, Fine. A little break can't hurt anyone. Just promise me that it won't be anything too extreme, Finn. I am still recovering." she reminded him.

"Yes, I knew you would say yes! Go get packed and I'll get our plane tickets." he instructed.

"Where are we going?" she asked, excitement very present in her voice. This made Finn glad to know that she was cheering up from her earlier sadness. Finn hated seeing her sad, so to say that he was excited that she was excited was a bit of an understatement.

"It's a surprise!" he exclaimed, laughing when he saw her face drop.

"What? C'mon, Finn. No! You know I hate surprises! How am I supposed to know what to pack if you won't tell me where we're going?" she whined.

"All i'm going to tell you is that it would be smart to pack warm clothes." he replied, wish a smirk on his face.

"Fine. But you do know that you're evil, right?" she asked.

"Right." he replied laughing. Rolling her eyes, Rachel left the kitchen to go pack. The only question she had now was where on earth was Finn taking her?

It was now Monday morning, 4:15 am. Rachel and Finn had to be at the airport in a matter of 3 hours to catch their flight that Finn scheduled at 7:15. Rachel was now wide awake and was making sure that they had both packed everything. She was also going through Finn's things to make sure what he packed was actually okay for him to wear. She usually always did that, because Finn really didn't care. After making sure everything was okay. She made a final round in the house to make sure that they didn't miss anything the night before. Good thing she did, because once she went into their bathroom, she noticed her straightener was still on it's hook. Grabbing it, she also grabbed a few ponytails from the drawer and Finn's cologne that she liked so much. He told her to pack a nice dress, so she assumed he'd be wearing a suit. She insisted on picking his tie and she would tell him to wear that cologne to where ever he was taking her.

Sighing, she placed the rest of the stuff into the bags and went towards the back to wake Finn up, who had been sleeping even though she told him to wake up 5 times. He was like a kid who didn't want to wake up when their mom was trying to get them up.

Going into their bedroom, Rachel flipped on all three lights around the room, and ignored Finn's low groan against his pillow. Getting onto the bed, Rachel placed her crutches on the side, and took a pillow from her side. Placing it over her head, she swung it and whacked Finn on the head. She continued this motion until her grabbed the pillow and threw it across the room.

Thinking of something else, she began to pluck the back of the head. He wasn't really affected by it. She then came up with a solution. Carefully, she maneuvered herself on top of his waist, and shook him a little.

"Finnegan Christopher Hudson, you better get your lazy bones up!" she exclaimed.

"Ughh, five more minutes." he replied.

"No, I gave you five more minutes ten minutes ago." she said, as she pushed his hair out of his face. "Time to wake up, Finny."

"Well, can you at least help wake me up?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh no, what're you about to do?" she asked, laughing.

"This." he wrapped his arms around her back and sat up so their faces were almost touching. Leaning in, he kissed her. Wrapping her arms around Finn's neck, Rachel deepened the kiss. Smiling, she pulled away.

"I guess I should've tried this first. You seem wide awake now." she laughed.

"Yes, you definitely should've. Maybe then we'd have more time to do what i'm thinking." he winked.

"Go take a cold shower, pervert." Rachel said laughing as they both looked down.

"Hey it's not my fault. It's 4am Rachel and you're so damn hot." he replied.

"Get dressed loser." Rachel said, playfully rolling her eyes. "We have to leave in about an hour if we want to get there on time."

About an hour later, Finn and Rachel are fully dressed, and ready to leave. Making sure they have everything, they grab their luggage and head to down to get a taxi. Once they get in the cab and tell the driver where to go, Rachel rests her head on Finn's shoulder. Smiling, she watches figure move by out of the window.

"So, I wanted you to know that I have a couple of theories as to where you are taking me.." Rachel begins.

"Oh theories, let me here them." Finn laughs.

"Okay, with the fact that you asked me to dress warm, i'm guessing something like a ski trip. So I have two theories. One being Colorado, and the others are around it like Utah, or Montana." She smiled as she talked. "Am I close to being right?" she asked.

"You're getting there. Maybe you should put in a little more thought." he replied.

"Give me another hint." she begged.

"I gave you a hint and that's the only one i'm going to give you. You'll find out once our plane lands." Finn told her.

"You're mean. How do I not know you're taking me somewhere to kill me?" she asked, watching the figures move outside the window.

"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot." he replied.

"Ugh, Fine. But just know that i'm not talking to you until I find out where we are going.." she whines, crossing her arms.

"you've got yourself a keeper back there." the cab driver jokes as he looks at them through the rearview mirror.

"Tell me about it." Finn replies as they both laugh and Rachel rolls her eyes.

Once they arrived at JFK, Finn paid the cab driver and helped Rachel get out of the car. He also grabbed both of their luggage. Rachel offered to help, but he refused it every single time she offered. He gave the reason that she shouldn't strain herself too much. She replied with he shouldn't strain himself too much either. He just shrugged.

The waiting for their flight took forever, but once they got on, Rachel was pretty excited to find out that Finn got them first class and her seat was by a window. She hadn't been on a plane and she forgot how amazing it was. Sitting in the reclining chair, Rachel smiled and grabbed Finn's hand as the stewardess brought them both coffee.

Ever since she got on the plane, she immediately dropped the subject of being pissed at Finn for not telling her where they were going, because sitting in first class with her amazing boyfriend was way better than fighting. Grabbing his hand, she smiled and spoke.

"This is absolutely amazing. I love you, sweetheart."

"Don't thank me until we get off the plane. It only gets better, I promise. I love you too, honey." he smiles back as he rubs his thumb over her hand.

As the ride goes on, Rachel begins to feel tired. Looking over at Finn, he's passed out with his hand still intertwined with hers. Closing her eyes, she fell into a well needed sleep. She then woke up to Finn gently shaking her.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" she asks quickly sitting up.

"Yes, everything's fine. Rachel, we're here." he replied smiling.

Looking out the window, Rachel gasped in astonishment. Something about the surroundings was so familiar to her. Like she'd been her before. Shaking off the feeling, Rachel grabbed Finn's hand and exited the plane with him. Once they got off the plane and made it into the airport, Rachel looked around trying to get any hints as to where she was.

As they came around the corner, they were greeted with a huge welcome sign on the wall. Rachel then knew why everything seemed so familiar. Smiling up at Finn, she kissed him.

Welcome to Lima, Ohio.

She recognized it because this was her home. Finn took her to her home and she couldn't be happier. This was going to be the most amazing vacation ever.

"I love you so much, you know that?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I? Because I love you just as much." he replied.

"We'll see about that." she whispered to herself.

"Welcome home, Rachel Barbra Berry." Finn smiled down at her.

"Welcome home, Finnegan Christopher Hudson." she smiled back before she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

Sorry so late with the update. Will try and update as soon as possible during Christmas break. Hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and New Years! Hope everyone enjoys this little chapter. I will write a new one soon, I promise! :) Review!