Chapter 2
"Rachel".
The familiar voice of a man was the only thing that could be processed through Rachel's ears as she desperately tried to see through the blackness. Nothing gave.
"Rachel," the voice repeated again, this time closer and louder. The identification of the man was on the tip of her tongue; she just needed to hear the voice again to place the name in her head.
"Rachel, can you hear me?" That was it. She figured out who was calling her.
"Daddy," she felt her facial features rise into a soft smile. Placing her hand in front of her, she felt through the darkness.
"She needs some water." She heard his voice once more, but for some reason she only felt air. "What is she doing?"
"No, I'm fine." She assured her father. "Touch my hand. Touch my hand, Daddy."
"Is she in a dream?" She stopped once she heard the voice as her eyes lit up with realization. That's when everything came rushing back to the surface. Her father's death, her mom, James, Finn, and lastly, the dinner arrangement.
She must've blacked out. It would be the only explanation for the darkness surrounding her. With this being said, she now clung to the black around her. Maybe she'd be able to stay in it long enough to come up with a plan to escape all of this mess.
That thought soon failed when a cold and wet substance press against her face, forcing her eyes to open and take everything in around her.
Sam was holding her up in a sitting position on the wooden floor, Christopher and James were looking at her with concerned expressions (although she knew James' was probably just for show), her mother was holding her cold glass to her forehead, and Finn was nowhere to be seen.
That's when she realized that her father was never there in the first place. A figment of her imagination, she assumed.
She pulled herself from Sam's gentle grasp, feeling herself slightly wobble as she stood on the wooden floor. "Be careful, "her mother placed a hand on her daughter's back for support. "You hit your head, Rachel."
Only then did she raise her hand to feel around her forehead. When she examined the red liquid smeared on her middle and index finger, Sam poured a nearby glass of water over his own table cloth and patted the fabric over her open wound. "Any harder, and you would've needed stitches." Sam joked sincerely.
"Do you remember anything before you passed out?" Her mother pushed, Rachel could hear the hope in her voice. This was the moment, Rachel thought. She could tell everyone that she'd hit her head too hard and she only remembered getting home from school. But she knew they'd only sit everyone down once more and explain everything again. She was also a terrible liar, so she'd spare herself the embarrassment and further annoyance. There was no getting out of this one. No matter how much she wished she could. Instead, she slowly nodded, feeling the effects of the headache hopping into action from her recent gash.
This was when she finally spotted Finn's whereabouts. He was secluded, on the other side of the room, with his hands in the pockets of his suit as he watched the cars go by outside of the large window. He'd never given any of them his attention until now.
"How about we all sit back down and take time to really discuss this?" Shelby asked, now patting the table cloth over Rachel's wound.
"That sounds like a great idea, Shelby." Christopher commented, heading back over to his place setting. "Finn, get back over here."
Rachel let her mother guide her back to the chair she was once sitting in, before she watched the tall brunette teenager throw in the towel and obey his father's orders. Before long, it was like she'd never passed out in the first place. She said this because her mother began cutting into the steak in front of her without a second thought of her daughter's physical and mental wellbeing.
"We apologize for just throwing all of this on the two of you without a thought of how you would take it." Christopher interceded the ever-growing awkward silence. Her mother continued to pay no mind, at Rachel's expectation. "We should've talked with you about it, to avoid a terrible outcome." Rachel rolled her eyes when Sam laughed, looking at the huge gash she now possessed on her forehead.
"You should've," Finn finally spoke, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "You shouldn't have kept this from me for so long."
"What are you thinking, Rachel?" Before Rachel could put in the two senses she'd been gathering in her head, her mother began speaking. This kept her quiet furthermore, forced to take in more of this nonsense. "We're really excited about this." She smiled, looking to Christopher who shook his head in agreement.
"What I think is that it's not the 1800's anymore," Rachel replied to her mother's earlier comment, causing everyone to look at her.
"Rachel what did we talk about earlier?" her mother asked her, glaring at her as she held her glass of wine.
"No, she's right," Finn added, looking to his father instead. "For the first time in her life, she's not spatting nonsense."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked, throwing her own glare to the boy in front of her.
"Guys, let's not make the air any tense than it already is," Sam cut in. "Some of us are actually trying to get out of here alive tonight."
"I mean, it's not like you spat out anything that's not nonsense. Even our teachers get annoyed with your unnecessary rambling in class." Finn talked around the blonde.
"Oh, because you're totally one to talk…" Rachel retaliated. "Last I heard you were failing Mr. Tanner's class."
"I sense a little pot calling the kettle black." He fought back. "You're calling me dumb, yet you believe anything you hear."
"No, unlike you, I make straight A's and have an after-school job." She held her head high. "I don't depend on daddy's money to support me."
"At least I have a dad." The words felt like a million knives to her heart. As much as she wanted to fight back and say something to hurt him like he'd just did to her, she couldn't find anything to beat that. Her mother often said some pretty nasty things, but never in her life had she'd experienced this. She wasn't going to cry about it, but she'd just been surprised at how low the blow was.
"Finnegan," Christopher scolded. Before he could continue, Rachel found the words to reply.
"The newest mayor of Lima, Ohio, everyone." She smiled, giving a round of applause. "Setting such a great example for the town's future by offering such kind words to its citizens. I really can't wait to see the amazing improvements that we're all in for."
"Rachel," her mother commented this time. Unlike Finn, she brushed it off and continued to stare at the boy in front of her.
Placing his head in his hands, he huffed and looked up with a red face. The anger was very much present in his face that she could almost predict what he was going to say to her. Then, he threw her off guard, addressing his father instead.
"How can you do this to me?" Finn asked. "I've finally found the right person after months and months of crying over Valerie. You know how bad that breakup was. You saw what it did to me. Sugar put me back on my feet and you know it."
"I didn't think she'd last longer than all of the other girls you'd been with, Finn." Christopher answered his son, sincerely. "Plus, I didn't know that John would have such a sudden death. None of us did."
"I told you that I saw a future with her dad. I told you that I was considering proposing after high school." Finn argued. Rachel thought this was funny, because earlier, Finn was definitely flirting with another girl. But she kept this thought to herself, along with all of the name calling and cure words she'd wanted to toss Finn and the other guests since the moment they'd walked into the house. This was, however, with the exception of Sam.
"Sugar Motta?" Shelby asked, as she sipped on her wine and threw James a weird glance. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, but payed no more mind.
"Yes," Christopher replied before turning to his eldest son by a year. "Finn, her father works in a power plant. She's nothing more than an embarrassment to the family name. Besides, I've already met the young lady. Don't think I've let go of the fact that she was very disrespectful to your brother and me."
"Well, I don't think she can be any worse than this mess," he replied, throwing his hands in Rachel's direction.
"Right, because I've totally bullied someone since I was eight years old." Rachel commented.
"It's not exactly like you were the cutest second grader. I don't remember you losing all that weight until we got to high school." Finn retaliated.
He was referring to her younger years. She'd struggled with childhood obesity for quite some time. That's what her doctor and mother called it, anyways. It took her mother constantly making mindless jokes about the way she looked, kids at school making her cry to her parents, and her father dying to get her to the slim figure she possessed now. But, never, would she ever forget the way she constantly felt when people would push her already self-conscious mind to its breaking point on the daily. Two of those people, sitting at this very table.
Bullies would be bullies and there was nothing you could do to change it. She remembered her previous thoughts when Sugar greeted the girls earlier this morning. She seriously could not believe that she was being forced to be with, yet, another one. Would her life become this endless roller coaster of misery and torture? Because, by the way things were going now, she'd say that that was exactly it, and she would not accept it.
For as long as she could remember being without her father, she vowed to herself that once she turned eighteen, she'd be as far away from her mother as possible. Hell that was one of the many reasons she'd taken her job. So, what was the correct way to feel when you were being told you'd have to embark on a forever adventure with a male version of her? Her body couldn't tell her. So, she slammed her hand on the table, gathering the looks of everyone in the room.
"This is just," she paused to catch herself from swearing, "gold." She began to laugh hysterically as everyone around her furrowed their eyebrows in confusion. She couldn't help it. Maybe she was the only one who found this as comic as she did. All she knew was that she couldn't stop her laughing fit.
"See?" Finn asked the grown-ups. "She's crazy! You don't honestly expect me to marry this basket-case?"
"Rachel, that's enough." Shelby scolded with a sharp tone.
She could tell that Sam was trying to hide his laughter as well. It was working a lot better for him. She continued to rock back and forth in her chair as the loud noise filled the room. She tried to catch her breath before speaking again.
"Where are the cameras?" Rachel asked her mother.
"I'm sorry?" she asked, moving her head forward to get a better hearing of what her daughter had just asked.
"You know the cameras…"she began. "Ashton Kutcher, the camera crew, the hired actors? Were they the waiters?"
"Rachel, what are you talking about?" Her mom asked, with a sigh of annoyance.
"Oh come on," Rachel smiled, looking at Finn, who shook his head and rolled his eyes. That was when she heard Sam's muffled chuckle. Looking over to him, his face was tomato red behind the new table cloth he'd received after cleaning her forehead with the old one. "It's done. I've finally figured it out. You can come out now," she shouted as she looked around the room.
"I think that fall might've given her a concussion." Shelby told Christopher and James. "Maybe we should bring her to the ER."
Knocking on the glass of the dining table, she spoke once more, gaining Sam's laughter again. This made the weight on her chest lift. Knowing that Sam was beside her, laughing with her and making fun of the situation, took away the knowing of the downward spiral her screwed up life was about to turn in. She knew he meant it when he said that he was a call away. In reality, he was a seat away and that made everything better for her.
She reveled in it, because she knew things would crash into place once he'd be out of the house and gone for the night, and she'd have to face the silence of her room.
"MTV, you there?" she asked, as she continued to knock.
She thought she'd have a heart attack when she found the smile fall over Christopher's face as well as Finn's. Her mother, on the other hand, was furious.
"Rachel, I need help cutting the cake." Shelby said, standing up. "Please, come help me."
"So you can scold me about my behavior in front of our dinner guests?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms. "No thanks, mom. But I'm sure your so dear of a friend, James, would be more than pleased to help." She smiled, causing James to stand up and lead her mother out of the room before she pounced at her daughter.
When they returned, Rachel avoided the piece of chocolate cake that was in front of her. Not by choice, however. She'd been getting mocking glances from Finn, and she'd love to skip the many rants her mother would give her about her weight control. She could already hear Shelby's voice, calling it "poor judgement".
Instead, she looked over to James, who, like everyone else at the table, was enjoying his slice of dessert. She squinted her eyes in his direction, becoming suspicious at how quiet he'd been all night.
"There's no way that you aren't involved in this," Rachel finally said, looking at the brunette man. "You've been too quiet. Did you really think I wouldn't assume you were involved in all of this?"
He realized she was talking to him, so he took a slow sip of the water in front of him, and finally addressed her. "I don't know what you're talking about." The same nonsense, she thought.
"Like the time I caught you staring down my shirt?" she raised her eyebrows.
"You're being paranoid." He replied. "Very much like my brother. Which is why, he included all of this in his will, years before he actually passed away." "Your mom has a copy if you want to read it for yourself."
She shook her head in disgust as he turned back to his plate. That's when she took in the look her mother was giving her. It was a furious one, knowing that Rachel, yet again, managed to disrespect her beloved "friend".
This was where she'd just about draw the line. She'd enjoyed playing along with the charade for as long as she had, but it was time for her to finally face the reality of it all.
"I'm not doing this," she threw her table cloth over the untouched piece of cake as she stood from the table. Taking steps, she began to head for the exit of the room. This was until her mother hurriedly stood, and caught her before she could go any further.
"Don't do this to me," she whispered.
"No," she ripped herself from her mother's grasp on her arm. "Don't do this to me." "You can't do this to me," she fought. "There's no way that you can make me do this! Because, referring to my good ole' future husband's previous words, you people are absolutely crazy if you think I'm marrying him!" she yelled, watching Finn's face light up in fury. He then stood to address her.
"No, you people are crazy if you think that I can actually marry someone like her!" she looked at him with an angered expression. There were millions of other words she could say right now, but they would only add to the pot. "She's not exactly my-" he stopped himself for a moment. Rachel assumed that he was trying to find the right word to describe her. If any other girl were in her shoes, they'd be offended by this. But, for Rachel, she didn't really care because the feeling had been mutual for as long as she could remember. "Type," he finally said.
"That's funny." Rachel smiled, "I always knew that you were gay."
"That's hilarious, Rachel Berry. You're just the funniest person I've ever met." Finn replied, with sarcasm at an all time high. "My type is pretty girls. You definitely don't fit into that category."
"Finnegan Christopher Hudson," his father exclaimed before getting up.
"You don't need to defend me to your son, Mr. Hudson." Rachel responded. "I can hold my own, and it's not exactly anything new to my ears. Just ask my mom."
All eyes flew to Shelby, who tried to look surprised. Honestly, if Rachel didn't possess the morals that she did, she'd give her mom a huge slap across the face in front of all of these people. The fake innocence would fly straight off, along with all of that makeup that almost drowned her to death.
Shaking her head, she excused herself and moved passed her mother. Kicking the heels off of her feet, she sprinted toward the steps to her bedroom. Sam, however, caught her arm and turned her to face him.
"I'm so sorry, Rachel," he was sincere.
"There's nothing to apologize for, Sam." She replied. "It's just another night in the Berry household." She laughed, cruelly, as she sighed.
Something appeared over his features. It looked to be shock, but Rachel wouldn't know for sure until he spoke. "If it were me, I'd be crying."
"Well, I'm not marrying him, so there's nothing to cry about," she replied.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, with a questioning look. "The whole thing seemed pretty finalized to me."
"For as smart as my mom thinks she is, I take after my dad, which makes me ten times smarter." Rachel replied in a hushed tone. "I'll get out of it."
Sam shook his head. "I don't know, Rachel. You're not eighteen yet. I'm pretty sure whatever your mom says, goes."
"Do you believe in me or not?" Rachel asked, becoming annoyed.
"Of course, you know I do. I'm just trying to be realistic."
"Well, quit it for tonight. Because I need you to be my friend."
"Always," he smiled.
"Good. Now, I've got to get out of here. But, you can't tell anyone about what I just told you."
"My lips are sealed." He replied, motioning the zipper along his lips.
"I'm serious, Sam. You can't tell anyone. Not even Mike."
"I won't tell," he assured her. "This stays between the two of us. I'd never betray your trust like that."
Smiling, she hugged him before turning back to the foot of the stairs. The last thing she heard was a "good luck" from Sam, before she smiled and hurried up to her room. Locking the door behind her, she hooked her phone up to her Bluetooth surround system. Choosing the loudest song she could think of, she put the volume as high as it would go. Climbing into her closet, she closed it behind her and locked it as well. She felt 10, seeing as though she was the exact age the last time she did this.
Quickly she pulled up the group chat between her and her two best friends. She typed as fast as her fingers would physically allow her to.
EMERGENCY. –Rachel
"Come on, come on." Rachel nervously bit her nails, waiting for a reply. Santana was the first to reply.
What's wrong? – Tana
Dinner went worse than expected. Details later. Sleepover's back on. Please. Who's hosting? Need to get out of here. ASAP. –Rachel
Y'all can come to my house. My mom's not home. She won't care. – Quinn
My parents are on board. –Tana
Yay! –Quinn
Did I mention that I need to get out of here? ASAP? – Rachel
I'm walking out of my house right now. Be there in 10. – Quinn
See you guys there. - Tana
Thank you. – Rachel
Closing her phone, Rachel sighed with relief. She then looked forward, finding herself in the mirror on the wall. The gash was worse than she expected it to be. She knew she'd have to cover it up before she got into Quinn's car. She didn't want this whole situation to cause assumptions by her friends that her mother beat her. Of all the things that Shelby did to her in the past, Rachel would have to give her credit for not resorting to physical abuse.
Then, her heart dropped beneath her toes. What if Finn was one of those guys? The ones who possessed no morals, the ones who didn't view women as more fragile; the ones who could easily swing and not feel a hint of remorse about it. She'd never seen any bruises on Sugar before, but that didn't tell her anything. Maybe they'd be fighting one day, and then bam; totally out of the blue.
Standing up from the floor of her dark closet, she reached for the light switch, and pushed herself on her tippy toes to reach one of the many overnight bags on the top shelf. She had to get out of here and be with her friends. There was no way she could keep this on her conscience for much longer.
Once she unlocked the door and stepped into her loud room, she rushed to gather all of her necessities before she could be confronted by her mother or anyone else that would be able to stop her. She could only imagine the things she would say if James tried to hold her back from leaving.
Walking into her bathroom, her heart fell when she realized she forgot to lock it. Turning the knob, a feeling of security fell over her. She was no longer at risk of anyone coming anywhere near her.
As all things ready for two nights away were neatly placed inside of her bag, she headed over to her bathroom to change out of uncomfortable dress, and clean up the hideous gash that sat over her eyebrow and newly forming black eye. She didn't realize how hard she fell until she looked into the mirror. It was a miracle that her glasses hadn't broken when she hit the floor. Even she had to admit that she was a mess. She could only wonder what Finn thought, especially after they told him she'd be the one to become his wife. Not good things, Rachel knew this must be true. Their banter and angered rants made this assumption a no-brainer.
By the time everything that she needed to do was finished, she knew she had to get out of there before someone came upstairs to confront her. Surprisingly enough, no one had knocked yet. Or, they had and she just didn't hear them over the loud music. All the same, she needed to get out of her house.
Checking her phone, there were no new notifications. This only caused her anxiety to rise to a higher level. With that being said, she disconnected her phone from the stereo, grabbed her bag, and slowly unlocked both doors.
When she heard a distant conversation being shared between the three grownups, she knew it was now or never. As silent as possible, she flew down the stairs and to the front door. Once she realized they were still in the dining room, she got closer to hear their discussion. She knew she was stupid in doing this, for she might get caught, but her curiosity got the best of her.
"This isn't her," Shelby assured everyone. "I don't know what's gotten into her."
"We've gotten to her," Christopher told her. "We've gotten to the both of them. Maybe we should've eased them into this. It probably would've helped if we hadn't isolated them so much as kids. We should've raised them together."
"You're right," Shelby replied. "The way they spoke to each other was just horrible. It has me fearful of their future together."
"They'll be fine," Christopher assured her. "If anything, they're starting off exactly how you and John did when your parents forced it onto you."
"I still can't believe they let me bring my best friend to that dinner," Rachel could hear a smile on her mother's face.
"If my memory serves me correctly, you were just as defiant as Rachel. Maybe even a little more." Christopher smiled.
"Your mother was so mad," James laughed.
Rachel swallowed thickly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Had her parents actually gone through what she was going through right now? Was this a traditional thing? Arranged marriages? She remembered reading stories of them in old literature, but this was the twenty-first century.
"We've built such a great foundation together." Shelby admitted.
"Maybe if you sit Rachel down and explain all of that to her, she'll change her mind or be able to understand better." Christopher suggested.
"You're right," Shelby replied. "You guys keep talking, I'll be right back." Rachel's eyes widened. Before she could be seen or caught, she resorted towards the back door, instantly regretting her decision to listen in. Running around the side of the house, her heart nearly fell out of her feet when she took in the tall figure leaning against the brick surface of her house, looking down at what she assumed to be his phone.
Before she could hurry past him, he looked up and spoke.
"Planning your escape as well?"
Stopping in her tracks with the large bag resting on her hip, like a child, she turned to face him.
"Quinn's on her way." She replied.
"Isn't that the hot blondie?" he asked. She could see his smirk through the darkness.
"If you're referring to my blonde headed friend, then yes." She remained civilized as he made his way towards her. So much for her mental protest. But, she didn't say a word. She just watched him. "Where did Sam go?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable to be alone with the one boy who'd ever made her cry.
"Mike lives right up the street. He walked to his house." Finn replied, with his hands in the pockets of his suit. If she guessed the reasoning, it'd be because of the weather. It was so damn cold outside.
"If only it were that easy for some of us," Rachel commented, talking to herself, mostly. But that didn't stop Finn from answering.
"I'd be long gone, if that were the case."
"Yeah," she sighed, taking a minute to let her thoughts get the best of her. "Me too."
"Look, I'm sorry about earlier, okay?" he asked, fidgeting with tie around his neck. "I said some things that I shouldn't have. I was mostly mad at my dad for everything and I sort of took it out on you. It's just that we don't exactly like each other and my dad's expecting me to spend the rest of my life with you along with running a town, as if it should be the easiest decision of my life. I kind of got freaked out." He didn't let her reply, before he continued.
"That still doesn't excuse the fact that I said some pretty ugly things. Especially what I said about your dad. I may not remember much of my mom, but I definitely feel the absence of her in my life. I'd never wish that pain on anyone, not even my worst enemy." He added, referring to her. "Anyways, it was wrong of them to throw everything on us like that."
"Thank you for that," she said, staring into the night with the feeling of awkwardness lingering around the two of them. She couldn't find the right words in her head to say to a guy she'd never spoken to in her life without mean or harsh commentary. It was almost as if she were being shy. There was definitely nothing normal about today. "I said some things too. But like you said, I was mad at the situation that my mom threw at me. I didn't really mean it." She knew that she was lying to make herself sound like a nicer person, but he didn't and it'd stay that way.
"So, what are we going to do?" He asked, looking at her as if she held all of the key answers.
"I don't know," she admitted. It took him a while, but he took a huge gasp of air before speaking again.
"Neither do I."
Before either of them could further the conversation, Sugar pulled into Rachel's driveway with her loud music. "That's my ride."
"I can tell," she mumbled under her breath. If he heard it, he decided to brush it off. Stopping in his tracks, he turned to face her once more.
"Don't tell anyone about this." He begged, "We're not supposed to like each other."
"I don't like you," Rachel assured him. His face fell into what looked like an obnoxious smirk.
"Neither do I, Berry. Neither do i." With that, no more was said as he piled into the passenger seat of the car as Sugar threw Rachel an annoyed glare. Once they were out of her sights, a breath she didn't know she was holding flew out of her mouth.
Quinn's shiny yellow Camaro appeared not too long after that. With all of the baggage that tonight's discussion placed on her, she piled into the passenger seat and tossed her bag to the back. Once they were out of the driveway and down the road, relief started to warm its way through Rachel's bones. Tonight would definitely be embedded her in her brain for all of eternity. And this wasn't meant to be in a positive way.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Quinn asked, once she became situated in her car.
"It's going to take a lot longer than a ten minute car ride to explain all of this, Q."
And viola, there's chapter 2. Hopefully all of you enjoy. :)