Chapter 6:

There was a knock on his door about an hour later and Rachel stirred, subconsciously grabbing at his shirt as she awoke. Finn ran a hand over her head as he told them to come in.

"Hey honey. Kurt just arrived, he wanted to talk to the two of you." Carole said poking her head in from around the top of the stairs.

"Okay. Tell him we'll be up in a few minutes." Finn replied as Rachel moved off his lap, making him frown at the cold space she left.

Carole left the room, softly closing the door behind her. Finn turned his attention back to Rachel and noticed her digging through the duffle bag he packed for her. Finn moved to her side and turned her gently by the shoulders to look at him.

"What's up? I don't want to keep Kurt waiting too long." Rachel asked looking up at him and trying to hold in a wince that Finn noticed when she stood up straight.

"He can wait, I just want to talk to you for a minute." Finn said in concern. He reached down and gently placed a hand on her stomach with caused her to whimper and a tear slid down her cheek. "Does that hurt?"

"A little." Rachel replied taking deep breaths.

Finn reached for the edge of her shirt and started to lift it when Rachel brushed his hands away. "Let me see, Rach. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't want you to be upset." Rachel replied softly, keeping hold of the bottom of her shirt.

Finn reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. "I won't be upset. I just want to make sure you're okay."

He slowly reached for the bottom of her shirt again while keeping his eyes locked with hers. Rachel hesitated but eventually let go and let him pull her shirt up slightly. He looked down and sucked in a breath at the dark purple and blue bruising across her stomach.

"It's fine, Finn. It's not that bad." Rachel said placing her hands on his shoulders.

He looked up at her with a look of disbelief and eyes filled with tears. "How can you say that? You look like your in pain." He gently placed his hand against her skin and she sucked in her breath. "Where does it hurt the most?"

"My ribs. I think he broke a couple when he kicked me." Rachel replied softly. She looked down at the floor, not wanting to see his reaction.

He knew she felt embarrassed that this happened to her so he carefully pulled her into his arms and held her close for a minute. "This isn't your fault, Rach. Don't be ashamed cause I'm not ashamed of you. I want my mom to take a look at that."

"Finn, really. She doesn't need to go to any trouble. There's nothing she can do to fix it anyway." Rachel protested.

"Maybe so, but she might be able to help with some of the pain." Finn explained. "Finished getting ready and then we'll go talk to Kurt, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel said quietly before she turned back to the duffle bag.

"I'm going to go change upstairs and let Kurt know you'll be up in a minute." Finn explained, grabbing some clothes for himself before heading for the stairs.

Rachel came up the stairs ten minutes later with her arms wrapped around herself. Finn stood up when she entered the living room. She gravitated towards him and he wrapped his arms around her.

Kurt sat watching the exchange and he could see how scared Rachel was, even just being in his presence. "Diva? Why didn't you tell me what Brody was doing to you?"

Rachel sniffled and pulled away from Finn before replying. "I didn't want you to call Finn. I wanted to try and handle it myself. I guess I didn't want to be rescued."

"I would have been there in a heartbeat, Rach." Finn replied, keeping his hand on her back.

"I know you would have, I just didn't want to feel helpless or that I needed you to fight my battles for me." Rachel explained as they sat on the couch.

"So you called Finn when you got to Lima?" Kurt asked, trying to understand how everything happened.

"No, when Brody nearly beat me to death, I waited until he had left the apartment and grabbed my purse and my phone. I just left and I was so scared that I just hopped on a train, not really thinking about where I had bought the ticket to go. I got here and I guess my first thought was that I needed to see Finn." Rachel started. "I didn't think about what I looked like or the questions he would no doubt ask. I just needed to feel safe and he always made me feel safe."

Finn wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Brody showed up at my apartment almost immediately after I hung up with you and he hurt her again. He managed to give her a concussion and severe bruising to her stomach, that I noticed this morning. We're pretty sure he broke a couple of her ribs. I brought her here since he doesn't know where our parents live, we're going to stay here for awhile until this all blows over."

"God, Rach. I'm so sorry. If I had known, I never would have given him Finn's address." Kurt said.

"Why did you give him my address?" Finn asked looking at him. "She just as easily could have gone to her dads' house."

"I'm not sure, I guess it just seemed like the likely place she would go." Kurt replied. "Have you seen him since yesterday?"

"No, but we haven't really left the house since we got here." Finn said rubbing Rachel's back.

"I'm sorry for not telling you, Kurt. He threatened my life, so I kept it to myself. I should have told you I was coming back to Lima though." Rachel spoke, her hand finding Finn's.

"Or at least answered your phone! I only called you about twenty times! I was worried sick and ready to file a missing persons report." Kurt exclaimed not noticing the way that Rachel tensed up and clutched at Finn's shirt.

"Kurt! Enough! You're only making her more scared." Finn shouted while wrapping his arms protectively around Rachel. She buried her face in his chest as she started to cry and Finn rubbed soft circles on her back to calm her. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It's okay, Rach. I got you. No one is going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry, Rach. I'm not mad, I was just worried." Kurt said softly as he knelt down next to her. He reached out to touch her knee but Finn slapped his hand away. Kurt looked at him in shock.

"She's already upset, Kurt. You don't want to touch her. It didn't end well for her dad." Finn explained. "Ask her first if it's okay."

"She not afraid of you touching her though." Kurt pointed out.

"It took time, Kurt. She was scared of me at first too. I had to prove it to her that I would never hurt her." Finn explained as Rachel started to sniffle against his shoulder. He ran a hand over her head and gently kissed her temple as she pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I'm just used to getting hit whenever someone raises their voice." Rachel said quietly, looking at the floor.

"I'm not going to hurt you, diva. I love you. You're my best friend and if I see Brody again, he'll get whats coming to him." Kurt said firmly.

"Not if I see him first." Finn replied squeezing Rachel closer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So Kurt has finally arrived in Lima and saw Rachel for himself. That will not be the end of Brody, not in my story, at least not yet. More juicy drama in the next chapter and another confrontation maybe? What do you guys think? As always, please review and give me your thoughts. Until next time, 'Losers.'