Chapter 3:
They arrived at Rachel's dads' house about ten minutes later. Rachel stayed silent the entire ride over and Finn knew she was nervous on how her dads' would react to what happened, but he knew that they loved her and would just want her to be happy and okay.
He shut the car off and unbuckled before turning to Rachel who was still sitting in her seat, staring out the windshield at nothing in particular. "Rach? You ready?"
She shook her head trying to fight back tears. Finn reached over and engulfed her tiny hand in his large one. He gently ran his thumb over her knuckles to try and soothe her. "I'm scared."
"What are you scared of?" Finn asked softly, not wanting to push her. He knew her dads' were waiting for them but this was important.
"What if they blame me? Or they're mad I didn't get out sooner?" Rachel asked tearfully.
"Rach..." He starts. "They love you. I'm sure they will only be happy you are safe now. I wish you had gotten out sooner too but its in the past and there's nothing any of us can do about that. They deserve to know what happened to their little girl in New York though."
"You'll stay with me the whole time?" Rachel asked nervously glancing up at him.
"Of course, if that's what you want." Finn replied squeezing her hand.
Rachel nodded and squeezed his hand back before releasing it and opening her car door. He followed suit and met her at the front of his truck. He took her hand in reassurance as she led them up the walk. She hadn't even bothered with any type of cover up, she wanted them to see all the damage that Brody had done.
She knocked timidly and held Finn's hand tighter as she waited for someone to answer the door. Finn moved forward and wrapped an arm around her to comfort her as the door opened to reveal Hiram Berry.
"Hey Finn." He greeted before his eyes came to rest upon the battered face of his only daughter. "Rachel? Sweetheart, what happened to you? Come in."
Rachel eyes had already started to fill with tears as he asked his question and Finn gently rubbed her shoulder as he led her inside. He led her to the couch in the den and instead of letting her sit next to him like she had planned, he pulled her gently into his lap and rubbed her back.
LeRoy Berry joined them shortly after and Rachel only grew more anxious. They noticed how scared she was and sat down across from Finn and Rachel.
"Rachel? Honey, what happened to you?" Hiram asked gently, wanting to comfort his little girl but knowing she was where she wanted to be.
Rachel sniffled and tried to stop her flow of tears. She opened her mouth and a hiccup escaped. Finn kissed her temple, shocking both of the older men.
"Do you want me to explain, Rach?" Finn whispered softly in her ear.
After another minute, she nodded her head and buried her face in his chest. Finn rubbed gentle circles on her back as he began.
"I was finishing glee rehearsal last night when I heard the piano from the choir room. I started to follow the music when the notes of an old familiar song started up and somehow I knew who was in the room before I even saw her or she sung the first notes." Finn started.
"I watched her whole performance without seeing her face once. I knew something had happened, it was an instinct we've always had with each other. It was confirmed though when she couldn't even finish the song before collapsing into tears." Finn looked down at the scared and broken girl in his arms and placed a delicate kiss to her head. "I, of course, couldn't leave her like that so I held her until she calmed down."
"Get to the point, Finn." LeRoy said firmly.
Finn swallowed thickly. "She moved past me to leave when I stopped her. I wanted her to tell me what was wrong. When she lifted her head to look at me finally, that's when I knew something bad had happened. I offered to take her home and that's when she told me that you both didn't know she was here. No one did."
Rachel raised her head from his chest and Finn carefully brushed her tears away with his thumb. "I...I had to leave New York yesterday. The first person I wanted to see was Finn, I'm sorry."
"But why, sweetheart?" Hiram asked her moving to his knees in front of her. Rachel shied away, pushing back into Finn's chest. Finn gently rubbed her arm to calm her.
"I'm ashamed to say that I may have played a part in what happened to her." Finn said quietly.
Rachel stared up at Finn horrified and shaking her head.
"What do you mean you played a part? What did you do?" LeRoy yelled rising to his feet. Rachel flinched and buried her head into Finn's chest. Finn tightened his hold on her, running his fingers through her hair.
"I may have led her into the relationship with Brody Weston." Finn says his name with spite. "I didn't know he would do this, I swear!"
Hiram knelt beside a clearly distraught Rachel. This conversation was not going the way she wanted at all. "Sweetie, why did you leave New York?"
Rachel choked on a sob and squeezed Finn's hand that had found her own. "Brody, did this! He almost killed me! I just wanted to feel safe."
Finn held her tightly as she cried while LeRoy paced the den like a caged animal. Finn kept an eye on him as he tried to calm Rachel. "It's okay, Rach. You're safe now. Your alright."
"Did you know he was hurting her?!" LeRoy finally bursted, glaring at Finn.
"No!" Rachel practically screamed. "I didn't tell anyone, not even Kurt. I felt like I deserved it."
"What? Why?" Finn asked astonished.
"Because you didn't want me and everyone kept telling me I wasn't going anywhere. He seemed to be the only one to pay attention to me, even though it wasn't the type of attention I deserved." Rachel replied quietly.
Finn pulled her tight to his chest and placed a lingering kiss to her head as his heart broke at the events he set into motion.
"You made her feel worthless." LeRoy boomed.
Finn had had enough of the yelling and insults towards him, he gently set Rachel down on the couch next to him and stood to his full 6'4" height. "You're the reason she's broken! You both were the ones to convince me that I would only hold her back and to put her on that train and guess what it only made us both miserable! Look at her! None of this would have happened if I had been with her."
Finn heard her sob and he turned to see her with her face buried in her knees, her breathing short and rapid. Hiram tried to reach out and comfort her but she only screamed and cried more. Finn approached her and gently placed his hand on her thigh. She wiped her face as she bolted from the room.
"I may have pushed her towards having a relationship with Brody but I wasn't the one who decided that she didn't need me. From where I stand, she needed me more than she's ever been ever to verbalize." Finn said before leaving the house to find Rachel.
He found her sitting in the passenger seat of his truck with the door open. She was sobbing into her hands and shaking violently. Finn leaned against the doorway of the truck, trying not to crowd her. "Rachel, don't worry about what happened in there..."
"They convinced you not to come with me? Why?" Rachel sobbed.
Finn sighed and knelt down on one knee so he could see into her eyes. "I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, Rach. They only wanted you to fulfil your dream."
"You were apart of that dream. They made me hate you, why didn't you tell me this sooner?" She asked looking up into his eyes. "We broke up over a lie."
"I didn't want you to see your parents any differently. They only wanted what was best for you, I know that." Finn explained placing a hand on her trembling knee.
"I don't think I want to be here anymore. But I don't know where to go." Rachel said quietly looking back down. "I never thought dad would blame you for all this."
"He probably assumed we had talked more than we did. I don't hold it against him, I should have visited more often maybe I would have noticed then." Finn replied getting off the ground.
"No, you were right when you said that this never would have happened if you had been with me." Rachel responded firmly, looking back up at him. "We never would have broken up and this..."
"Enough. What's done is done. I can't change that as much as I want to but I can help make things right for you." Finn said pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Buckle up."
Finn moved around to the drivers' side as she put her seat belt on, confused on where he planned on taking her. He climbed in and noticed her downcast stare.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked her gently, reaching for her hand and intertwining their fingers.
"I...I'm not sure what to do from here. I didn't think he would be so angry and I'm not sure I feel comfortable staying with them anymore." Rachel explained. "I don't know what to do."
Finn started the truck before turning to face her. "This is what we'll do, okay? You're going to stay with me that way I know your safe. You've just had a lot of information dumped on you and you should have somewhere safe to process it all. Are you okay with that?"
Rachel nodded as she gazed as him. "What does this mean for us?"
"What do you mean?" Finn asked confused as he started to buckle himself up.
"When we were at Mr. Schue's wedding, you said we were endgame. Do you still want that? Do you still want me even after all this?" Rachel asked him quietly, afraid of the answer.
Finn tried to hold back his tears. He wasn't sure why she was being so hard on herself. He reached out and tipped her chin up with his index finger. She nearly cried herself at the expression of sadness on his face.
"Rachel, I have wanted you since the first day I laid eyes on you. This doesn't change anything. It doesn't make you weak, baby." He explained cupping her cheek and running his thumb over her bruise. "You are the strongest woman I know and I love you. I always have, the fact that you were able to get out and make it back to me, I'm so grateful. I still want to spend the rest of my life making you the happiest woman in the world."
Rachel's tears fell at his sincere words and she moved to wrap her arms around his neck. He held her tightly to his chest and placed a kiss to her temple. "I love you too, Finn. So much. I just don't want to ruin your life."
"Hey now, stop that. You could never ruin my life. Not being able to be with you was killing me and I should have followed my heart. I should have told you how I felt before all this stuff with Brody." He soothed rubbing her back softly as his free hand wove into her hair.
There was a gentle knock on Finn's window and he turned slightly to see Hiram standing there in concern. He rolled the window down without letting go of Rachel. She pulled back slightly to see what was going on but didn't leave the circle of his arms.
"I just wanted to make sure Rachel was okay." Hiram explained before looking at Finn. "I'm sorry for LeRoy's behavior. He had no right yelling at you like that when he knows you've been here trying to let her live out her dream."
Rachel spoke up before Finn could. "Finn was always apart of that dream. You both convinced him that I would be better off without him and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I need him."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I realize that now. Can you please come back in and tell me what that monster did to you?" Hiram asked her gently.
Rachel shook her head, not wanting to go through that again. "No offense, daddy but I really don't want to go through that again. I came home late from a rehearsal the other night and he was drunk. He accused me of cheating on him with Finn and he nearly killed me."
Finn spoke up knowing Rachel wouldn't tell him. "She has cuts and bruises all over her body, Mr. Berry. He was never gentle with her. She grabbed her purse and her phone and just left. She doesn't even have any clothes right now. I was going to take her shopping after we see my mom."
Hiram nodded and looked at Rachel, wanting to offer her some sort of comfort. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm glad you were able to find someplace you felt comfortable last night. Can I give you a hug?"
Rachel hesitated but slowly nodded. She wiped the tears from her face and unbuckled her seat belt before opening the car door. Hiram met her as she opened the door and opened his arms for her. Finn watched the exchange, ready to step in if she got anxious or scared.
Rachel wrapped her arms around her dad and he held her tightly in return. Hiram stroked her back gently trying to comfort her a little and show her that he would never hurt her.
"Are you okay now? Do you have somewhere to go?" Hiram whispered in her ear.
She nodded against his chest. "Finn has been amazing and he's letting me stay with him for now. I'm okay, just worried he's going to come after me."
Hiram glanced up at Finn and gave him a look that Finn knew well. Keep her safe. He always would, whether they were together or not. Her safety was one of the most important things to him next to her happiness of course. "I won't let anything happen to her, Mr. Berry. I'd give my life to keep her safe."
Rachel released Hiram and took a step back. "Is dad going to be okay? I need for him to understand that it isn't entirely Finn's fault. He thought he was doing the right thing for me. He didn't know that Brody was abusive and neither did I when I entered the relationship with him."
"I'll talk to him, sweetheart. Will you come to say goodbye before going back to New York?" Hiram asked her gently.
Finn really wanted to know the answer to that question as well. Did she plan on returning to New York?
"I'm not going back, daddy. I don't feel safe there anymore." Rachel replied softly.
"You're giving up your dream?" He asked, stunned.
"No, I'm working on a different dream now." Rachel explained glancing back at Finn and meeting his eye with a small smile.
AUHTOR'S NOTE:
I always felt that LeRoy was more firm than Hiram, plus he's just being protective of his only daughter. I had always wanted to see Finn snap, especially at how much he was insulted. If it wasn't his weight, it was about how clueless he could be at times. I feel like he was insulted more than any other character and it was irritating as a viewer, especially when Finn lost the weight and Sue would still insult him. Anyway, next chapter the drama will be heightened. As always please review and let me know what you think will happen next, I always consider your ideas while writing the things I don't already have planned out. I will say that I have a plan for how this will play out, mostly but not everything. Til next time, my lovelies.