Chapter 4:

"Are you okay?" Finn asked her as he drove them towards his parents house.

"You've been asking me that a lot this last twenty four hours." Rachel sighed. "I'm okay. Just worried that we'll have a similar experience with your mom and Burt."

"They always been supportive of us, Rach. I promise if things start to get out of hand, I'll get you out of there, okay?" Finn replied reaching over to take her hand as he pulled onto the familiar street.

Rachel nodded and locked their fingers together. She watched as he pulled into the driveway. She knew they weren't expecting them, Finn had only called her dads to warn them since he doesn't usually visit them. She took a deep breath and released his hand before unbuckling and opening the door.

Finn took her hand back as they walked up the front steps. He knocked on the door and waited as he heard voices. A few seconds later the door swung open to reveal Carole.

She took one look at Rachel and her eyes filled with tears as she moved forward to embrace Rachel. "Rachel, sweetheart. What happened to you?"

"I...I..." Rachel stammered.

"Can we come in, mom? It's kind of a long story." Finn replied as Rachel moved back to his side and he wrapped his arm around her.

"Of course. Come on in." She ushered them into the living room where Rachel sat as close to Finn as possible. He kissed her head gently as his mom sat in the chair near them. "What happened?"

"She had to leave New York. She didn't feel safe there anymore. I found her at McKinley last night after Glee practice. No one knew she was here so I had her stay with me last night." Finn started.

"My ex-boyfriend, Brody Weston, he...he almost killed me." Rachel spoke up. "I didn't have any time to grab anything except my phone and my purse. He thought I was cheating on him with Finn."

"This man hurt you?" Carole asked in astonishment while looking at Finn, who nodded in sadness.

"Oh, honey!" Carole cried before moving forward and wrapping her arms around Rachel once again. Rachel buried her face in the shoulder of the one woman who she considered a mother to her.

Finn rubbed her back gently with soft circles. "She has cuts and bruises all over her, mom. I feel like this is partially my fault."

"Sweetheart, why would you think that?" Carole asked him.

"Because I pushed her towards having a relationship with him before we broke up. I knew us breaking up was bound to happen so I thought she deserved someone who was from the same world as her. If I had known he was abusive, I never would have left her there." Finn explained.

"Finn, honey, that's not your fault. You were trying to do what was best for her." Carole replied. "It's takes two people to start a relationship and it sounds like Rachel was just as much at fault here if that's the case. That's beside the point though, regardless of how you two ended and they ended up being together, that monster hitting her was not on either of you but on him."

Rachel pulled away and wiped at her tears before smiling at Carole. "Thank you. My dad wasn't as receptive as your being."

Burt entered the room and asked what was going on. Finn looked up at him and explained the shorter version.

"What do mean? They can't possibly blame you for this." Carole asked in shock.

Rachel shook her head. "He doesn't blame me, he blames Finn."

"What! Why?" Carole exclaimed meeting Finn's eyes.

"He thought that Finn knew he was doing this. He blamed Finn for me being so broken but they were the ones to convince him not to come with to New York." Rachel explained.

"Well that's ridiculous. He wouldn't knowing allow this to happen, especially to you. As for convincing Finn not to go with you, that wasn't fair to the two of you." Carole replied. "That was a decision you both needed to make with each other."

Finn nodded and wrapped his arm back around Rachel as she leaned back into him. "I agree. We wanted you to know what had happened. I know how much you both care about her."

Burt moved farther into room but didn't get too close. He didn't want to make Rachel anxious. "Is this asshole still in New York?"

"Far as we know, yeah." Finn responded.

"Is it okay if I hug you Rachel?" Burt asked her gently. Rachel nodded tearfully and moved into his embrace. Finn wasn't worried this time, he knew that they just wanted her to feel better.

Burt held Rachel closely and rubbed her back. "If you ever need a safe place to go, you can come to us, okay?"

Rachel nodded as she pulled back and gravitated back towards Finn, which made Carole smile. "I'm staying with Finn for now. We're not sure if Brody will try and find me."

Burt looked at Finn and nodded. "I know he'll make sure you're safe."

"I need to take her shopping for some proper clothes. She doesn't have anything with her." Finn explained placing a hand on Rachel's lower back. She gave him a small smile as she looked up at him. Carole took note of Rachel's sweatpants and loose fitting top.

Carole looked at Burt and he nodded. Burt reached into his pocket and handed Finn some money. Finn started to protest but Burt shut him down. "Your still a student, Finn. You don't nearly make enough to do that. Take the extra money and make sure she has what she needs. Rachel is like the daughter we never had and we want to make sure she's taken care of."

Finn nodded and took the money, stuffing it into his wallet. "I'll pay you back."

"Don't you worry about that. Just take care of her." Carole replied giving them both a hug before they were off.

They arrived back at Finn's apartment a few hours later with an arm load of shopping bags. Finn froze outside his door and he could feel Rachel tense up. There was a small of white piece of paper taped to his door. He opened the door for Rachel and placed her bags in the entryway before grabbing the paper off his door.

"Who knows that you live here?" Rachel asked quietly as she sat down on his couch.

"Not many people. My parents and Kurt I think are the only ones that have the address." Finn replied as he looked at the front of the note. It had his name on it but his gut was telling him that it wasn't Kurt that put it there.

He sat down next to Rachel and they stared at it for a minute before Finn took a breath and opened the envelope. The note read as follows:

I figure Rachel would run to you and you probably bought her story, hook line and sinker. She's lying to you, Finn. I never touched her. She needs to get back to New York, her professors are pissed that she took off in the middle of the semester. Tell her to come home.

Brody

Rachel was reading over his shoulder and she immediately started to cry. "I swear Finn, I'm not lying to you."

"I know, baby. I know. You would never lie to me, especially about this." Finn replied pulling her into his arms as she cried. He kissed the top of her head.

"That's not my home. You are." Rachel continued to cry.

"Shh. I know. It's okay." Finn soothed rubbing her back. "How the hell did he figure out where I live?"

Rachel started to sniffle and then she gasped as she pulled back. "Call Kurt. Now!"

"You don't think he would..."

"I don't know Finn. Call him please." Rachel begged her tears starting up again. Finn pulled her back to his chest and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He quickly dialed Kurt's number and placed the phone to his ear as he ran a hand through her hair.

"Hello?" He heard him answer hoarsely.

"Kurt, hey. We have a problem that I should have explained sooner. Has Brody contacted you?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, douche bag was here last night. Why?" Kurt asked annoyed.

"Because Rachel's here in Lima. She left New York yesterday." Finn started before Kurt interrupted.

"Thank God, she hasn't been answering any of my calls. Why is she there, its the middle of the semester?" Kurt asked in confusion.

"Kurt, listen. Did you happen to give him my address?" Finn asked him, rubbing Rachel's back as he spoke.

"Well yeah, he was worried about her. He is her boyfriend after all. He thought she may have gone home." Kurt replied. "What's going on, Finn?"

"Damn it! Brody's been abusing her, Kurt. She did come home, to me. He's not her boyfriend anymore. He thought she was cheating on him with me. He's trying to hurt her and now he knows exactly where she is." Finn explained.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Is she okay?" Kurt rambled.

"She's fine for now, she's with me. Does he know where our parents live?" Finn asked him.

"No, I didn't tell him that. I didn't think there was a reason to." Kurt replied. "I'm so sorry, Finn."

"I know. Rachel wanted me to make sure that you were okay." Finn replied rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm on my way there. You guys shouldn't have to face him alone, not when this is my fault." Kurt replied. "I'm booking a train ticket right now. Tell Rachel that everything will be okay."

"I will, thanks Kurt." Finn replied before hanging up. He leaned down and kissed Rachel's forehead. "He's okay. He's on his way to help us. He didn't know, Rach and he told him exactly what he needed to know to find you. Brody's here in Lima and I don't think we're safe here anymore."

Rachel clung to him tighter and buried her face in his throat. "What are we going to do? If he finds me, he'll kill me."

Finn pulled away from her and wiped at her tears. "I'm never going to let that happen, okay? We need to put some bags together. He doesn't know where my mom and Burt lives, so I'll call them and see if we can stay with them for awhile."

Rachel nodded and Finn went to grab a couple extra duffle bags that he had. Rachel took a deep calming breath right as there was a rough knock on the door. Rachel moved to answer it, thinking it might be Burt or Carole to check on them.

When she swung the door open, she gasped and quickly backed up. Brody stood there like a bull, blocking the path of escape.

"I knew you would be with him, you cheating whore!" He exclaimed grabbing her by the front of her shirt. "Did you sleep with him already too? Makes sense, bed's barely even cold and you're here screwing your ex."

Rachel started to cry as she tried to get out of his grasp. "We were done the moment you decided to hit me, you bastard!"

Brody shoved her to the floor causing her head to smack against the hardwood and she saw black spots blur her vision. She groaned and rolled onto her side right as he kicked her in the stomach. She let out a scream that had Finn running in from his bedroom.

Finn's anger grew as he saw Rachel on the floor, holding her stomach in pain. He charged at Brody, ramming him into the brick wall behind him. "You son of a bitch! You like to beat upon helpless women! Why don't you try someone your own size?"

Finn punched him so hard that Brody flew backwards and hit the floor. Finn was standing over him ready to throw another punch when Brody tried to get up. Finn knocked him back down before pulling him up by his much too gelled hair. He dragged him by his hair to the door and shoved him so hard he hit the opposite wall across from his apartment. "You ever touch her again, I'll kill you!"

Finn slammed the door shut and locked the knob and the chain lock before turning back to where Rachel still lay on the floor. She was whimpering in pain and all he wanted was for her to be okay.

He rushed to her side and knelt beside her, gently moving her hair out of her face. "Rach? Baby, are you okay? How bad did he hurt you?"

"My head really hurts. When he shoved me down, my head hit the hardwood." She whimpered.

Finn carefully pulled her off the floor and into his lap, checking her head for any external signs of injury. Not finding any, he gently kissed her forehead and held her as she continued to cry.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So Brody showed up in Lima. Do you think he'll try again or did he learn his lesson from Finn? Also, how hot is Finn when he is angry? Do you think they'll be safe at Carole and Burt or will he find them there too? As always please review and let me know if there is anything I should think about or elaborate on. Until next time, 'Losers.'