Chapter 9:
Finn's mouth dropped open and he moved to stand. Carole gently pushed him back down into the chair. "I just really fucked up with her, mom. I need to go and find her."
"Your not going anywhere on that leg. She needs some time to think I'm sure." Carole replied.
"She doesn't even have her jacket, mom. It's getting cold out there, she'll freeze. Please, I need to find her." Finn begged.
"No, you are staying here. I'll go look for Rachel and make sure she's okay." Burt spoke up as he entered the room.
"But..."
"No buts. You can't even drive right now, Finn. Let me go find her." Burt responded.
"Fine. Can you just tell her I'm really sorry? I know she was just worried." Finn asked settling back into the chair. "And please take her jacket with you, its on the hook. I don't want her getting sick because of me."
Burt grabbed Rachel's purple jacket as he shut the door behind him. Carole turned her attention back to Finn as he looked down at his lap.
"What's wrong, honey?" Carole asked him gently.
"I always seem to say the wrong thing to her. I don't mean to hurt her." Finn replied quietly.
"I know you don't. Don't worry Burt will find her." Carole said patting his knee. "Do you need another pain pill?"
Finn nodded and looked up to stare out the window in front of him as she left the room. He couldn't believe that he yelled at her like that. He's never done that to her before, he just felt so helpless and he wanted to be able to do things himself.
Burt was driving along through the small downtown of Lima, when he saw Rachel sitting on a bench. Her head was down, her hair curtaining her face and her shoulders shaking. Burt knew she was crying and let out a sigh. He stopped in front of her and rolled the window down.
"Rachel, honey? Get in the car, it's freezing out here." He said and she looked up at him, her face red and the tears still pouring down her face.
Rachel shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. "He's mad at me. He's never yelled at me like that before. I just want to be alone right now."
Burt threw the car into park and grabbed her jacket. He noticed she was shivering aside from the crying she was doing, which was only going to make her colder. He made his way to her and took a seat beside her, wrapping her jacket around her. "He's not mad at you, honey. He wanted me to tell you that he's really sorry. He knows you were just worried about him."
"Thanks for bringing my jacket. I was just so upset that I didn't even think about it." Rachel replied looking down at her feet.
"Finn asked me to. He didn't want you to get sick because of him." Burt replied wrapping an arm around her. "He knows he messed up, honey. He was going to come after you himself when he had realized what he had done. That's why I'm here, if I hadn't gone to find you, I'm sure that Finn would have found a way to find you himself."
Rachel's phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket to look at the caller Id. She sighed and showed Burt who it was.
"You should answer it, honey." Burt said gently. "I'll wait in the car and when you're ready you can join me."
Rachel nodded and pushed the answer button before bringing it to her ear. "Hi."
"Rachel? Oh my God, I was so worried. Baby, I'm so sorry. Did Burt find you?" Finn spoke in a rapid fire and she could tell he was worried about her.
"Yeah, he found me." She sighed. "Thanks for having him bring my jacket."
"Of course, I didn't want you to get sick." Finn started. He could hear in her voice that she had been crying and he hated that he was the cause of it yet again. "Rach, please come back. I'm so sorry I snapped at you. If Burt hadn't gone after you I would have done anything to find you."
Rachel sighed and readjusted her phone against her ear. Her fingers were going numb from the cold. "I know and I'm glad that they made you stay there. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if anything else had happened to you because of me."
"No, this is my fault Rach. Please come back so we can talk about this." Finn said and she could hear the desperation in his voice.
"I think we need some time to think, Finn. We've been within arms length since I got here and..." Rachel said before Finn interrupted her.
"Please don't push me away, Rach. I over-reacted but I need you." Finn replied and she heard his voice crack. She was hurting him and that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I don't think I can get through this without you."
"I think coming back here was a mistake. It seems like we haven't learned anything since high school." Rachel sighed.
"Please, Rachel, please. Just let me explain, please. I love you." Finn begged and Rachel knew his heart was breaking. She heard him start to cry before he started again. "I can't lose you again, please. I know I fucked up and I never should have yelled at you. Just please let me explain."
Rachel couldn't bare to hear him cry, especially over her. "Okay, I'll come back to talk but no promises that I'll stay."
She heard Finn take a shuddering breath before he answered her. "Okay, I guess I deserve that. So, I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way." Rachel sighed before hanging up. She stood up from the bench and climbed into Burt's car.
"Are we going back to the house?" He asked her gently.
Rachel nodded. "He wants to explain but I told him there was no guarantees that I would stay. He really hurt me."
"I know, sweetheart and so does he. He's trying to make it right." Burt replied before putting the car in gear.
Finn sat there in his dad's chair thinking about everything she had said. She thought coming back here was a mistake? Did she also think that they were a mistake? He couldn't bare to think that. He couldn't lose her again, she meant everything to him. That's why he let her go in the first place, he didn't want her to resent him. It seemed like she already did though.
He looked up sadly as the front door opened and Burt walked through first followed by Rachel, who had her head down. She shed her jacket and placed it back on the hook. She looked up to meet Finn's eyes and his eyes filled with tears at the tear tracks marring her beautiful face. Burt left them to talk in the living room as he went into the kitchen to inform Carole of the situation.
"Rach? I'm so sorry." Finn started and Rachel put her hand up to stop him.
"You wanted a chance to explain so that's why I'm here. I know you're sorry. You've said that already." Rachel replied sitting on the couch next to him.
Finn nodded and held her gaze. "This whole situation makes me angry. I hate that I'm so helpless right now. I know you were worried about me and that's why you told my mom. I just...I hate that you have to see me this way."
"And I hate seeing you this way too but it's better than you being dead." Rachel's voice cracked and a few new tears fell down her face. Finn's face contorted in sadness at her pain.
"Baby...talk to me. Do you really think coming back here was a mistake?" Finn asked her, afraid of the answer. "Do you think we were a mistake?"
Rachel shook her head, vigorously. "No, I don't think we were a mistake. I would never take that back. Loving you is the best part of my life. I just think I should have given you more time before I came back home."
"Do you want to know what I think?" Finn asked her.
Rachel nodded and looked deep into his eyes that shone with despair. He held his hand out for her but she didn't take it right away.
"I think...if it wasn't for you being here right now. I would be in the worse state of mind possible. I would wish I was dead because you are the best part of my life too. Not having you here would break me, Rach." Finn replied retracting his hand in despair. A few tears slipped down his handsome face as he gazed at her. "I may have figured out what I wanted to do with my life but that didn't make me as happy as you make me."
Rachel started crying again. She didn't want to imagine a world without Finn and unfortunately her mind started playing through a scenario where he wasn't with her anymore. Finn started to move to get up. He wanted to be able to comfort her.
"Don't you dare get up." Rachel said firmly. "I'm not going to be responsible for you falling again because I can't get my emotions under control when it comes to you."
"Then come here, please." Finn begged a few more tears falling loose. "I can't stand to see you cry because of me."
"You're not standing though, you're sitting." Rachel replied with a small smile.
Finn wasn't in the mood for jokes though, not when they were both hurting. "Come here, please."
Rachel moved towards him and he gently pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her tightly and placing a lingering kiss to her head.
"God, Rach. You're freezing." Finn commented as he took her numb hands into his warm ones and rubbed them gently, trying to restore the warmth in them.
Her tears still fell freely as he gazed at her. "I don't want to imagine a world without you, Finn. My world would be so dark without you."
"My world would be dark without you, too. I didn't mean to upset you, I'm just trying to make you understand what you mean to me. I know I've said it a lot already but I'm so sorry." Finn replied brushing a few of her tears away. "I need you in my life, Rach. My life isn't complete without you."
Rachel buried her head into his shoulder and he held her tightly as a few tears slipped down his own cheek. He rocked her gently, trying to calm her down.
"I don't want to lose you, Rachel. When you ran out of here like that, I was so worried. I didn't want anything to happen to you and I knew if something did, it would be my fault." Finn said kissing her head again. "Please don't go. I need you here."
Rachel sniffled against his shoulder and tightened her grip on him. "I'm sorry too. You're already going through a lot and I don't want to add my drama to that. It wouldn't have been your fault if something had happened. It would have been mine, I wasn't thinking when I ran out of here. I just needed some space."
"It never should have came to that though." Finn replied rubbing her shoulder to give her more warmth as she was still pretty cold. He reached behind him and grabbed the thick blanket laying on the back of the chair before covering her with it. "You don't still want to leave, do you? I wouldn't blame you if you did."
Rachel shook her head and buried her face farther into his throat. "I meant what I said in the hospital, I don't want to leave you."
Finn nodded and leaned down to kiss her temple. "I don't want you to leave either. I'm so sorry for yelling at you, I know you only want what's best for me. I was just mad about this whole situation. I don't want everyone to have to take care of me, especially you. It's my job to take care of you and I can't do that very well right now."
Carole came into the living room an hour later to find Rachel fast asleep on Finn's chest and him running a hand over her head. He smiled up at her and she sat in the spot that Rachel had vacated. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah, I think we are. I'm sorry for snapping mom. I'm just frustrated." Finn replied.
"I know, sweetheart. Just know that we are all here for you." Carole said. "She fell asleep?"
"Yeah, I think all the crying along with the cold exhausted her. She's okay where she is. I'm just glad that I was able to make things right with her, I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had lost her for good." Finn responded looking down at the slumbering girl in his arms. He placed a soft kiss to her forehead and squeezed her just a bit closer. He looked back up at his mom when he remembered the initial reason they went out. "With all the drama I created, I forgot to ask. What did you find out about the other driver?"
Carole sighed before meeting his gaze. "The other driver is still in critical condition at the hospital. When the police found you, they said that your injuries looked so severe that checking you for id was the last thing they were worried about. They told the paramedics that brought you in that they hadn't bothered to look for an id yet because of your injuries. So they were supposed to do that before they arrived at the hospital."
"So it's on the hospital now on why you weren't informed sooner?" Finn asked rubbing Rachel's back as she slept.
Carole nodded. "I'll go and talk to them tomorrow. You should get some rest yourself. Burt and I think you should stay here in the living room for now at least until you're more mobile. It doesn't make much sense to have you going up and down the stairs and since the only other bedrooms are on the second floor. This is our best option for now."
Finn nodded and looked down at Rachel. "Hopefully it won't be too long. My broken leg really makes this situation suck."
"Better than the alternative, Finn." Carole replied.
"I know and I agree with everyone on that, even if this does suck. At least I'll be able to recover and have a full life with Rach."
Carole nodded and motioned towards the tv. "Do you want me to put something on for you?"
"Can you pop in the original Avengers? I know Rach doesn't care much for superhero movies but it would make me feel a bit better, especially while she sleeps." Finn asked her nicely.
"Of course, sweetheart. Is she warm enough now?" Carole asked him as she put the movie in for him.
"Yeah, she was so cold mom. How long did it take Burt to find her?" Finn asked in concern.
"He said he was driving around for about half an hour before he found her sitting on a street bench downtown, crying." Carole replied.
Finn's eyes filled with tears as he looked at Rachel again. "God, she could've got hypothermia mom. I really shouldn't have snapped at her like that."
"It's alright, Finn. Burt found her and she's okay now." Carole soothed, pushing play before coming over and placing a kiss to his head.
"I just hope she doesn't end up sick because of my stupidity." Finn commented.
"We'll deal with it if that happens, okay? Enjoy your movie and yell if you need anything." Carole said before moving back to the kitchen.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Do you think Finn managed to smooth over the situation with Rachel or will she still be upset? Do you think their will be consequences for Rachel running out without her jacket and it taking so long for Burt to find her? Also, what do you think the hospital's excuse will be for not informing Carole sooner? As always please review and let me know what you think. Until next time, 'Losers.'