Chapter 2:
Rachel spun around at the noise, covering her chest with her arms but not before Finn saw even more scratches and bruises on her chest. "Finn! Don't you knock?"
Finn didn't respond as he laid the clothes on the counter and slowly moved towards her. He could see her trembling. "Rachel? I need you to answer me honestly, this isn't just a visit, is it? Something happened to make you leave, right?"
"Finn..."
"We promised never to lie to each other, Rach." Finn reminded her.
"Yes, okay! Something happened but I just need to breathe for a minute. Can I please take a shower first before I explain?" Rachel begged.
"Okay." Finn breathed. "I'll wait for you in the living room but we need to talk."
Rachel nodded as he left the room. She wasn't sure how he was going to react to the news. She looked at the clothes he brought her and saw that it was one of his old McKinley High T-shirts and a pair of basketball shorts. She smiled to herself.
Finn was sitting on the couch lost in thought when she emerged from the bathroom. He looked up and smiled when he saw how beautiful she looked in his shirt. Her color had returned but she looked even more scared now than before.
Rachel moved slowly to sit on the opposite end of the couch. She took a few shaky breaths to calm herself. It didn't stop her from shaking though.
"Rachel? Why are you so scared right now?" Finn asked her softly.
Rachel swallowed hard as tears formed in her eyes. "Because this is the first time I've been alone with a guy since I fled New York."
"And that scares you?" Finn asked confused. He slid closer to her and she flinched back. "I'm going to ask you again, is someone hurting you?"
His firm tone scares her though and she starts crying as she nods.
"Hey, please don't cry. Rachel look at me." Finn begged. When her wet eyes met his, he started again. "I would never hurt you, ever. Can you tell me who did this to you?"
She shook her head, rapidly. "He said he'd kill me." She was harshly crying at this point.
Finn reached out and cupped her cheek in his large hand. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Rach. But please, tell me who did this?"
"Brody." She sobbed finally breaking down.
Finn gently pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. He ran his hand over her head carefully, trying to soothe her. "Shh...it's okay. He can't hurt you anymore. I'm here."
He let her cry for awhile as he held her before pulling back and wiping her tears. "What happened to scare you into coming home?"
"I got home late from rehearsal the other night and wasn't able to call him. I could tell he had been drinking. When he asked me where I was, I explained what happened. He got mad and accused me of cheating on him." Finn brushed his thumb against her cheek. "He said he'd looked through my phone and saw our messages. I was trying to leave and he grabbed my arms and threw me against the wall."
Finn ran his hands down her arms, inspecting each bruise. He looked back up at her and touched the bruise on her temple. "Why did he hit you?"
The tears welled in her eyes again as she replied. "I told him I was leaving him for good."
Finn pulled her back against his chest as she started crying again. He rocked her gently until he felt her body relax. "You should get some rest. Come on, I'll show you to my bedroom. I'll sleep on the couch."
"No, Finn. You should sleep in your own bed, I'll take the couch." Rachel protested.
"You know damn well my mom would kick my ass if she knew I let you sleep on the couch besides you deserve to be comfortable especially after everything you've been through." Finn explained. He gently tucked her damp hair behind her ear and took her hand. "Come on. Seriously I'll be fine."
"Your probably right about your mom." Rachel commented as he led her to his room. His style hadn't changed at least.
"Oh I'm definitely right." Finn laughed as she sat on the edge of his bed. "I'll let you get some rest. I'll be right in the living room if you need me."
"Finn?"
"Yeah?" He turned at the doorway to look at her.
"Can you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?"
He hesitated for a moment. "Sure. Come on, lay down."
He awoke to screams in the late hours of the night. He threw the blankets off him and ran to his room. When he threw the door open the first thing he noticed was the comforter ripped off the bed. He found Rachel curled in a ball in the corner of his room. She had her hands over her head protectively and he saw her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
"Rachel?" Finn quickly knelt beside her and reached to touch her leg.
She recoiled and tried to make herself smaller. "No, please! I won't do it again!"
Finn heart broke at how small her voice sounded. "Rach? It's me. It's Finn. Your okay." Finn said trying to calm her down.
It seemed as if she didn't hear him though as she continued to sob.
"Rach?" Finn begged. He wracked his brain for anything that would bring her out of this and then he remembered. "Rach? Baby?"
She froze at the term of endearment. She only ever allowed one person to call her 'baby' and that was Finn. She grew angry and cold. "Don't call me that! Only Finn is allowed to call me that."
Finn couldn't bare anymore and carefully scooped her into his lap. She fought against him, throwing punches and kicks as he pulled her closer. He trapped her arms against his chest and guided her head gently to his shoulder before placing his lips against her temple. "Rachel? Baby, it's me. It's Finn. You're safe."
The fight began to leave her body and she took a deep breath as Finn released his hold on her and she pulled back. The tears started flowing again as she saw the compassionate look on Finn's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, shh. It's okay. It was just a nightmare." Finn soothed tucking her hair behind her ear. "Do you...maybe want to talk about it?"
She shook her head as she brought her forehead to rest against his chest. He gently ran his fingers through her wavy brown locks.
"What can I do to help?" Finn asked her softly.
Rachel tightened her hold on him as she replied. "Can you just stay with me? Please?"
Finn gently rubbed her back as he swallowed hard. One look into her eyes and he could see how scared she was. "Okay. Come on, let's get some rest." He pulled her to her feet and carefully guided her to the bed. She latched onto him as he turned toward the foot of the bed. "I'm just going to grab the blanket, babe. I'm not leaving."
Rachel let him go and watched him intently as he picked up the discarded comforter before making his way back to her. He laid down on the bed as he tugged on Rachel's hand so would so she would lay down.
Once she was comfortable laying with her head on his chest., Finn carefully pulled the blanket over them both. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just processing." Rachel replied. "You don't think he'll follow me here, do you?"
Finn tipped her chin up so her eyes met his. "Don't worry about him, okay? Even if he shows his face around here, I'll protect you okay?"
"You make me feel safe, you know that?" Rachel asked quietly.
"Good cause as long as I'm breathing no one will lay a finger on you." Finn promised.
When Finn awoke the next morning, Rachel was still asleep on his chest. He smiled and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, gently tucking her hair behind her ear. He felt her tense up as her eyes fluttered open. He saw the fear as her eyes opened before being replaced by relief.
"Morning." She yawned.
Her hair was sticking up on one side and he chuckled to himself. "Morning, beautiful. I'm going to hop in the shower, help yourself to the kitchen, okay?"
She nodded and sat up as Finn left the bed. She watched him as he pulled out clothes before picking up her phone. She had five new messages, two were voicemails, three were texts. She had fifteen missed calls, ten from Brody and five were from Kurt.
Rachel pressed the phone to her ear as she got out the bed and made her way into the living room. The first voicemail was from Brody, he was begging for another chance. The second one was also from Brody and it was him yelling about how worthless and a tease she was. The tears started falling as she clutched the phone to her chest.
"Rach? You didn't tell Kurt you were coming home?" Finn asked looking at his phone as he walked out of the bathroom. He didn't get an answer so he looked up. "Rach?"
He found her sobbing into her knees against the arm of the couch with her phone clutched to her chest. He quickly knelt in front of her. He tried to reach for her phone but Rachel shied away from him.
"Rach? Baby, it's okay. It's me, Finn." He said softly, once again reaching for her phone and gently tugging it from her grasp. He looked at the screen that was still lit and saw her voicemail open. He pressed play on the most recent message from Brody and pressed the phone to his ear, watching Rachel the whole time. His blood boiled as he heard him call her worthless. He clicked the phone off and placed it beside him as he took her hands in his, rubbing her knuckles gently.
Rachel's tears petered out and she sniffled as she looked up at him. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Nothing, Rach. You're beautiful and you're perfect." Finn replied scooting beside her and putting his arm around her. She leaned into him and rested her head against his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. "We should finish getting ready so we can go see your dads."
"Do you think they'll be disappointed in me?" Rachel asked softly as Finn helped her stand up.
"I don't think they could ever be disappointed in you, Rach. Especially over something like this. Come on, let's get some food and then I'll give them a call, okay?" Finn replied leading her to the kitchen.
After breakfast, Rachel put on the clothes she was wearing when she arrived before Finn helped her into his car and climbed into the drivers' seat. Her dads' knew they had something to tell them but he didn't want to explain over the phone. He noticed how nervous she was and gently took her hand into his own.
"Don't be nervous. Your dad's love you and I'm sure they'll feel exactly how I feel right now." Finn said quietly before kissing the back of her hand.
"And how do you feel?" Rachel asked softly, looking at her lap.
Finn looked over at her as he buckled his seat belt. He reached out and carefully tipped her chin up so that her eyes met his. "I'm angry that this asshole did this to you and I want to beat the shit out of him. But I look at you and I see everything he's done to my beautiful girl and it makes me sad because I know I brought this on you."
"What do you mean? This isn't your fault, Finn. You weren't even there." Rachel protested.
"It is my fault, Rachel. You gave me the opportunity to sing with you when I came to New York the first time. I pushed you to sing with Brody because I thought it was best for you, I thought you deserved someone from the same world as you. I was so stupid." Finn bashed his hands against the steering wheel. "I pushed you into an abusive relationship, Rachel."
Rachel noticed his distress and the unshed tears in his eyes and gently reached to touch his arm. "Finn stop. It's not just on you, I should have left him the first time he hit me, but I didn't. It wasn't until I was beat within an inch of my life that I decided to flee New York. I didn't feel safe there anymore. I only felt safe when I was with you."
"He almost killed you?!" Finn exclaimed the rage taking over. Rachel gently ran her hand over his cheek and he calmed almost immediately.
"I'm okay, Finn. I made it here. I survived. I want to go see my dad's now." Rachel replied. He gave her a gentle smile and started the car.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight." Finn said holding her hand tightly in his own. "Let's go."
AUTHOR NOTE:
So what does everyone think about the reason Rachel left. As always please review and the next chapter will be up shortly.
