Rachel drove home as fast as she could, not caring about everything that was going on. She didn't even bother going to Glee club practice because she knew what was in store there for her. She knew Santana, Quinn and Mercedes would be waiting to comment on another flaw of hers like they did everyday and she knew nobody would stand up for her. Not even Finn anymore.

But now that she thought about it, when did Finn ever stand up for her? Of course, he wasn't very capable of witty comebacks of any sort, but he could've at least stopped it all from happening. She got even more furious as she drove home thinking about this, but she knew that she deserved everything that had just gotten thrown at her. Why did I even expect anything better than this, she thought. It was way too good to be true.

She got home and somberly made her way up the stairs without saying a word. She knew her dads would be wondering what the matter was, considering she was always rambling off something when she went home, even if she was in a bad mood.

But this wasn't just any bad mood. She had never felt anything like it before. It was like when she was little, and she got her star-shaped cassette player taken away from her. She felt so empty without Finn, as if the ground underneath her had just given in and nothing was stable anymore.

She didn't even want to sing anymore. She knew that Glee club was her thing, but she couldn't bear to face all of their faces. Not now. Not for a long time.

She thought about why all of this had happened. She knew Finn probably wasn't going to hear her out anytime soon, and there really wasn't anything she could do about that. She didn't want to hurt him anymore, she just wanted to be left alone. Rachel wanted to feel something that was real. It actually felt exhilarating for her to hear the truth from her teammates, that they didn't like her, because she wanted to hear the truth. Now that she heard it from all of her teammates, including Finn, it was actually quite exhilarating. She knew she would still feel the hurt after a while, but it was nice to know that something good came out of it all.

Rachel looked around her room after shutting the door behind her. There were still remnants of Finn all around the place. Well, I might as well start now, she thought, as she picked up an empty box from her closet. She picked up every picture frame around his room and carefully placed them in the box, taking a few minutes to look at every single one of them. One was taken by her dad at regionals last year, of them singing Faithfully to each other. She knew that definitely topped Sam and Quinn's carbon copy, but it didn't matter anymore. Another was taken at Breadstix, after the duet competition when Finn decided that they were winners anyway. There were more around, and she took them all down non-stop. There was definitely some hesitation present, because she still believed there was a slight sliver of hope for them. But she knew that she had to do something for herself for now. It took about two hours to take down everything, but at least it was a step forward.

She took a sweatshirt he gave her from her closet and folded it neatly, placing it in a box. Finally, she took the golden Finn necklace out of her pocket. She had no idea what to do with it all day after she took it off, and now she finally knew where it belonged. With the rest of what was left with her relationship.

She decided that she wasn't going to be a diva about any of it like she usually was. She wanted Finn to be happy, and she knew that he was always looking for something more. Soon, she found her scolding herself for ignoring all the signs of his unhappiness. Maybe all he wanted was the freedom that he deserved. Who was she to hold him back from that? She was always at the bottom of the totem pole, and he was always the one who deserved to be at the top. Maybe her selfishness was what finally drove him away. It wasn't Santana. It was all Rachel Berry.

Rachel took the box and quickly fled down the stairs with her box and got into her car. Because of her fathers' constant concern over her personal life, she knew that she couldn't just dump it out in front of her house. She pulled up to the park that she was so fond of, and walked to the dumpster to throw out the box.

"Rachel?" A voice said, and she turned around. Just her luck, it was Finn, decked in an Underarmour sweatsuit, sweaty and panting. Rachel froze in place. For once, she was speechless and didn't know what to say at a time like this. There was something inside of her that didn't want him to see what was inside the box; she didn't want him to know that she was already starting to give up, in case he was reconsidering the situation. "Wh-what are you doing? Is that my sweatshirt in there?" He saw the familiar print.

"Um, no, it's actually one of my dads'. They wanted me to throw stuff out, and they didn't want the front of our house to have any clutter," Rachel said, rapidly trying to think of a story. Nice save, she said to herself.

Finn, however, didn't buy it. "Rach, what are you doing," he said, with an exasperated tone. It was as if he was so tired of everything already, like someone who had just given up.

"Please," Rachel said, with a sincere pleading tone. "Please don't call me that. This sounds overdramatic, but I promise you it's not, but I'm really trying not to think about anything that reminds me of what just happened."

"I don't understand," he replied after a long pause. "Why do you want to forget? I, that's supposed to be my job…"

"Listen, Finn, I understand what happened, and I know that I fully deserve it. I've finally realized that it was way too good to be true. I know you need space, and I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I need one too, just to come to terms with reality again," she explained in a melancholic tone. She didn't mean for it to show through, but if there was one thing that Finn learned from all these months of dating her, it was that there was always a certain brightness to Rachel's eyes either with happiness or with anger. Her emotions always showed but right now, she was just completely blank and unreadable and… cold. He watched Rachel walk away, get into her car, and drive off while he stood there, perfectly still.

Did she not care about their relationship? She really didn't look too concerned about what was going on anymore. Especially since she threw out all his stuff. Was there some sort of competition on who would get over the other one first?

He wanted to win. So why was he pulling out the box from the dumpster and bringing it back to his car?