Chapter 5:
Rachel was silent on the drive back to the Hudson-Hummel home. Finn kept looking at her out of the side of his eye. As he shut the truck off in the driveway, she reached over and clutched his hand tightly.
"Rach? What's wrong?" Finn asked her gently, running his thumb over her knuckles and trying to calm her.
"Don't leave me alone, please." She turned to him with a tear streaming down her face. Finn gently wiped it away with his thumb.
"I'm not leaving you. It's just my parents, remember that okay? They would never hurt you." Finn soothed before pulling her into his chest. He placed a soft kiss to her head, knowing it must be killing her after hitting it on the floor.
Carole and Burt met them at the door with a questioning look on their faces. Finn had Rachel cradled in his arms as her head was making her too dizzy to see straight. Her head was resting against his shoulder so that her face was buried in his throat.
"She's got a concussion. Can I put her in my old room and then I'll explain everything?" Finn asked gently shushing Rachel as she whimpered. Carole nodded and moved aside so Finn could carry her down to the basement bedroom.
Finn placed Rachel gently on the bed and tucked the blankets around her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, smoothing her hair back as he pulled away.
"Don't go." He heard her whisper as his foot hit the first step. He turned to see Rachel's chocolate eyes staring at him and filled with unshed tears.
"I'm not going far, baby. I'm going to help my mom gather some things to make you feel better." Finn explained as he came back to her side. "I won't be away from you for long."
"You don't understand Finn. He hurt me and you were in the next room. Now you're telling me...your going to be at least a whole floor away." Rachel said before the tears fell again. Finn pulled her into his lap and rocked her gently. He placed gentle kisses to her head before pulling back to look in her eyes.
"No one is going to get in this house, much less get close enough to hurt you. Not in the time I will be gone." Finn replied leaning down to kiss her temple. "You really need to get some rest, especially with that concussion."
She whimpered slightly and latched onto the front of his shirt. "Please, Finn."
"I'll be back in just a minute, I promise." Finn soothed kissing her forehead as he helped her lay back. "Stay right here."
When Finn came back, he found Rachel was already fast asleep in the same position he left her in. He smiled at her as he sat beside her and gently laid the ice pack on her head. She let out a small whimper and Finn carefully ran his hand up her arm.
"It's just me, baby. I'm going to take a look at your injuries, okay?" Finn said softly, brushing her hair back behind her ear.
"You came back?" Rachel asked tearfully.
"Of course, I did. I told you I wasn't leaving you too long." Finn reassured her. "Here take these for the pain."
Rachel sat up more in the bed and he handed her two red and blue tablets. She swallowed them quickly and Finn held a glass of water for her. She smiled at him after she swallowed a gulp. "Come lay with me please?"
Finn placed the glass on the bed side table before kicking his shoes off and climbing in beside her. He pulled her into his embrace and Rachel sighed in contentment. "Get some rest. I'm not going anywhere."
Rachel squeezed him tight before closing her eyes. Finn placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and ran a hand over her back.
Finn waited until Rachel was snoring lightly before carefully getting up and tucking the blankets back around Rachel. She shifted in her sleep before settling back down. Finn made his way to the stairs, he knew his parents were still waiting for an explanation.
He found them in the living room, Burt watching a football game. Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets as he entered the room and both of them looked up at him.
"Finn? Honey, what's going on?" Carole asked standing up.
"Brody's here. He stopped by to see Kurt in New York yesterday and Kurt gave him the address to my apartment, not knowing the whole story." Finn started. "We had just come back from shopping when we found a note attached to my front door. We called Kurt to make sure he was okay and he's on his way, actually. I decided it wasn't safe at my apartment anymore so I went to pack us a couple bags. There was a knock on the door and I heard Rach answer it, so I just continued packing until I heard her scream. I came running out of my room to find her laying on the floor and holding her stomach. I don't remember much after that point, just that I punched him a few times and told him that if he ever touched her again I would kill him."
"He pushed her down?" Burt asked, the anger building.
"I didn't see what he did to her but she said he shoved her down and that's when she hit her head." Finn replied pacing the room. Carole opened her mouth to speak when Finn heard a blood curdling scream come from downstairs. "That's Rachel!"
Finn tore through the kitchen and raced down the stairs, where he found Rachel crying into her hands on the bed. He quickly sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap before kissing her head. He rocked her gently as he threaded his fingers through her hair. "It's okay, Rach. I got you. Shh. I'm here."
"Finn?" She cried, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Shh...you're alright. You're safe. I'm here." Finn whispered soothingly in her ear.
After a few minutes, Rachel pulled back, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes. Finn kissed her gently on the nose, causing her to give him a small smile. "Where were you? You said you weren't going anywhere but you were gone when I woke up."
"I'm sorry, baby. I needed to tell my parents what happened. I promise I wasn't far." Finn replied softly as he gazed over at his parents. "I was going to come back, Rach. Can we stay here with you guys until this all blows over?"
"Of course, Finn. It'll be nice to have you home for awhile." Carole replied with a smile. "We'll leave you two alone for now."
"You scared me." Rachel said quietly after Carole and Burt left the room.
Finn pulled her back into his arms and kissed her head. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm all yours now, promise. Why don't you lay back down?"
"I can't sleep. I keep having nightmares." Rachel mumbled. Finn rubbed her back gently, trying to comfort her.
"You need your rest, Rach. Lay down, I'll keep the nightmares away." Finn replied kissing her temple softly and helping her lay back before crawling in on the other side of her. Rachel moved as close as she could to him and grabbed onto his shirt. Finn gave a soft smile and ran a hand over her head. "Sleep, Rach. I'll protect you."
He could swear he saw a smile right before she fell asleep on his chest. Finn dropped a kiss to her hairline. He would stay awake and watch over his angel, to make sure no one hurts her whether it be physical or mental.
Rachel woke up the morning and groaned causing her to wake Finn, who had fallen asleep at some point during the night.
"Hey baby, how do you feel?" Finn asked her gently. He brushed some of her hair back so he could see her face.
"My head really hurts." Rachel whimpered and buried her face in his chest. Finn caressed her back soothingly and placed a kiss to the top of her head.
"You should take some more medicine." Finn commented, starting to get up but Rachel's hand on his chest made him look down at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I just...I'm worried about Brody." She said softly, focusing on the hand that was idling rubbing his chest.
Finn sat back down beside her and ran his hand up and down her back. "Don't be worried about him. He doesn't know where my mom and Burt live and I'll be with you at all times. That is not up for debate."
"But don't you have classes?" Rachel asked cocking her head.
"I can do them online. Don't worry about me, let me take care of you." Finn replied, leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips. When he pulled back, he noticed her look of shock and confusion. "What? Did I do something wrong?"
Rachel shook her head slowly and locked eyes with him. "That's the first time you've kissed me since we broke up, I was just surprised is all."
"Why does that surprise you?" Finn asked his face scrunching up in confusion.
Rachel sat up more and took the tablets that Finn offered her before looking up to reply. "Because we aren't together."
Finn let out a sigh and took her hand in his, gently caressing her knuckles with his thumb. "Not because I don't want to be. You broke up with me, Rach. I never wanted to let you go and watching you walk away from me that day, thinking that was the last time I'd see your smile grace my presence...was almost my undoing. I almost did it. I almost hopped on a plane back to New York to beg for your forgiveness. I was standing at the gate waiting to board."
"What stopped you?" Rachel asked softly after she swallowed the medicine.
Finn looked up at her sadly. "I couldn't bare to have you hate me more. I knew going after you wouldn't solve our problems, only push you away more. I couldn't handle that. So after you left, I spent the next two weeks holed up in here, crying over how much I fucked up with you."
Rachel reached out and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I don't know if I agree with that. I don't think I would have hated you for coming after me...I honestly can't say how I would have reacted. But I do think we needed that time apart to find ourselves outside of each other."
"You always knew what you wanted, Rach." Finn stated removing the hand from his face and holding it gently in his lap.
"But you didn't. You needed that time to figure it out." Rachel explained. "We couldn't do all that and maintain our relationship from a distance. You didn't fuck anything up, Finn. We are right were we are supposed to be."
Finn smiled at her sadly and ran his thumb over the fading bruise on her temple before nodding. "I just wish we were reunited under different circumstances."
Rachel smiled a small smile at him and moved into his lap. His arms automatically tightened around her and he kissed her forehead. "I'm here and I survived. I made it home to you, Finn. And I'm not leaving again, you can't make me this time. That's all that matters now." Rachel replied.
"I would never be able to let you go again. You're stuck with me forever." Finn whispered in her ear as she snuggled up on his chest. He waited until her breath evened out and he figured she was asleep before whispering. "I still plan on marrying you."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter I got stuck on a lot but I actually like how it turned out. So what do we think? Are they safe at Burt and Carole's? Will Finn and Rachel be able to repair their broken relationship and have their happy ending? As always please review and let me know what you're thinking so far. Until next time 'Losers.'