DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

It was cold, no it was freezing. Rachel's teeth chattered uncontrollably and she pulled her warm red coat tighter around her small body. Normally the cliff side where she sat on the hood of her car was littered with drunken horny high school kids making out, among other things, in their parked cars. However, it was the last day of Christmas break and almost everyone was with their family and friends. After all it was the season to be with the ones you loved and cared about. Despite the small smile she and Finn shared on Christmas Eve at Mr. Shuester's they were still "officially" broken up.

They still spoke, mostly about glee club and they were civil even friendly with one another but it still made Rachel's heart twist and squeeze inside her chest whenever she was near him, hell, whenever she thought of him which was almost every single minute of every single day.

She liked coming up to the point though, when it wasn't a raging McKinley High orgy that was. It was quiet and peaceful and the view was really something to take in. Rachel heard her cell phone go off in her coat pocket and took it out to see that it was Kurt. She decided to let it roll over to voice mail. Even though she and Kurt had formed an odd and unlikely friendship she wanted to be alone that afternoon. She wanted to try and clear her head of everything Finn Hudson. She let the call roll over to voice mail and placed it back in her pocket before sliding off the hood of her dad's car and walking closer to the edge of the cliff. The enormous trees, the small river down below, everything was dusted with snow and twinkling ice. It was beautiful even magical in a weird way.

Rachel stopped at the very edge of the cliff and waited until the sound of her boots crunching against the snow and earth died down. She finally let a few unshed tears fall from her eyes as she softly said goodbye. She was saying goodbye to her old life and she was saying goodbye to Finn. Whether she was ready or not it was time to start fresh and move on with her life. She was going to focus on glee club and her dreams and she was going to win Nationals no matter what.

Wiping away a few tears Rachel forced herself to smile and with a final nod of her head she turned to leave. A fast painful breath mixed with fear and confusion escaped her as she suddenly was flat on her stomach. Looking back at her boots she saw a shiny patch of ice that had been covered up where she was standing. After a few seconds and the fear and shock had passed Rachel laughed at herself. She shook it all off and got to her knees carefully as she went to stand back up. As she bent one knee upwards and moved to stand she slammed back down into the ground again. Taking another look back Rachel saw that the laces of her left boot had somehow gotten tangled with a patch of frozen twigs that were hidden by the snow. Rachel sat up and went about trying to untangle her boot laces trying really hard to ignore how close she was to the edge of the cliff. Luck did not seem to be on her side as she grappled with the boot laces. Getting fed up she gave up on trying to get the laces free and just started kicking her leg trying to get the boot off of her foot completely. On her fourth try she kicked too hard, the boot flew from her foot and her entire body slid until she was literally hanging off the side of the cliff. Rachel clung onto the cold dirt above her desperately. A whimper of fear choked out of her when she looked down. How was this even happening to her? Rachel grabbed as much of the cold clumps of dirt as she could and used everything she had in her to try and pull herself up. She was almost going to make it when her cell phone started ringing the merry little holiday tune she had chosen as her ring tone. The noise startled her and she lost her grip. Her body slipped right out of her coat and the last thing she remembered was feeling her stomach leap into her throat and then a sharp pain rip through her head.

...

Kurt let out a frustrated sigh as he heard Rachel's perky voice mail message. He hit the end call button on his phone and tossed it to the other side of the couch.

"Who was that?" Finn asked, walking into the living room with a huge bowl of popcorn in his arms.

"Ah, no one. Just someone from school I'm trying to get in contact with." There was now way Kurt was going to tell Finn that he was talking to Rachel. It just seemed wrong in some way.

"Let me guess that kid Blaine?" Finn asked in a teasing voice with a lopsided smirk on his face."

"Just eat your popcorn." Kurt directed him before picking up the remote and flipping through the tv channels.

...

The bell rang and Mr. Shue came into the choir room. He looked around at his students and noticed immediately that Rachel was missing. She was always the first one to jump to her feet and have an announcement the second he walked in the room.

"Where's Rachel?" Mr. Shue asked.

"Maybe her dads decided to give us all a Christmas present and shipped her off to Israel." Santana chimed in.

Mr. Shue ignored Santana's little comment and went to the white board. "The holidays are over and we have a lot of work to do." He ignored the groans and went about scribbling down ideas on the white board.

...

Finn came through the back door of his house and tossed his back pack to the floor heading straight to the fridge. As he opened it, scouring for something to eat and drink he glanced over at his mom who was on the phone and had a concerned look on her face.

"Absolutely Mr. Berry." Finn's head jerked up at hearing that. Why was his mother talking with one of Rachel's dads? "Yes, he just arrived home. I will ask him and if I hear anything at all I will get right back to you. Thanks. Goodbye."

"What was that about?" Finn asked as he pulled out the half empty container of orange juice and began chugging it down.

"Have you seen Rachel? Was she at school today?"

"No." Finn looked uneasy. Rachel was still a sore subject and his mom knew that. "She wasn't in glee club. I didn't see her in the halls I thought maybe she was sick or something."

"Well, her father just called me and he seems extremely concerned. Apparently Rachel borrowed his car the other day and she never came home."

Finn choked on the orange juice he was drinking and his mother was instantly by his side patting his back. "What?" Finn asked as soon as he could talk again.

"They have been calling around everywhere. Mr. Berry said they had just spoken with the police."

"Maybe she just drove somewhere and got lost, maybe she got a flat tire or something." Finn said this wanting to believe it.

"Well, that is possible but he said they have tried her cell phone numerous times and it just keeps going straight to voice mail. They were wondering if you had maybe heard from her."

"No, nope." I haven't seen her since Christmas Eve, Mom. Rachel tends to be overly dramatic maybe she got into a fight with her dads and is trying to get back at them or something."

"No, I don't think so. Mr. Berry said she was perfectly fine when she left the house yesterday afternoon."

"I don't know mom." Finn's heart was pounding in his chest. Rachel was dramatic it was in her blood but just taking off and not leaving some grand goodbye note or making some huge exit, that wasn't like her. He tried to suppress the tiny gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong.

"Okay, well let me know if you hear anything." Carole kissed Finn on the cheek before leaving the kitchen

"No problem." He called after her.

Kurt burst through the back door and flung his over the shoulder bag onto the kitchen table as he dropped his cell phone down onto it. "I swear I am going to go straight to her house and give that girl a peace of my mind if she does not call me back in the next 10 seconds."

"If who doesn't call you back?" Finn asked. He was hoping Kurt's problems would get his mind off of Rachel.

"Rachel!" Finn's eyes went wide. "I have been calling her and texting her since yesterday and she is not answering me back and I really need her advice on something." Kurt looked over at Finn and bit down on his lower lip when he realized what he just said. "Sorry." Kurt's voice lowered to its normal octave. "I know things aren't exactly... well anything with you two but I need her advice on something. If there is a bigger diva in Lima, Ohio than Kurt Hummel it is Rachel Berry and I need to talk with her ASAP." Kurt noticed that Finn had suddenly become unusually pale and wide eyed. "What?"

"One of Rachel's dads just called mom. They said they haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon. She wasn't at school today."

For once in his life Kurt Hummel was speechless.

...

Finn walked into the choir room and felt his stomach lurch when he saw two police detectives talking with Mr. Shue. He sat down next to Artie who was silently gossiping with everyone else.

"What did you do this time Puckerman?" Santana accused Puck who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't do shit."

"I, I, I, I think it's about Rachel." Finn stuttered out.

"What the hell did that goodie two shoes do?" Santana asked folding her arms across her chest.

"Attention everyone... guys quiet down!" Mr. Shue yelled out and stepped to the side so one of the detectives could speak.

"I'm here because we are looking into the disappearance of one of your classmates, Rachel Berry. It's been 48 hours since she has last been seen. If any of you have any information on where she may be or of she has contacted any of you we need you to come forward and let us know." The detective was answered with shrugs and muffled I don't knows. "If any of you do hear from her we need you to contact us..." The detective was interrupted as his partner got off his phone and rushed over to his side whispering something urgent in his ear. They were about to leave when Finn jumped up out of his seat and rushed over to them and grabbed one of the detective's arms.

"Hey now son!"

"Please you have to tell me what is going on." Finn begged in a panicked voice.

"Son, this is a police matter, you..."

"Please, please." Finn begged "She's my girlfriend." He blurted out which wasn't the truth but it felt so right and natural to say.

The officer let out a sigh feeling sorry for the kid. "A couple of kids were messing around by the point they found a coat and cell phone near the edge of the cliff. When they looked over they saw someone lying at the bottom of the cliff, we think it may be your girlfriend." The detective patted his arm and went to leave but Finn pulled him back again.

"Is she okay? What happened? Is she... is she okay?"

"All we know is that the EMTs have brought her to the hospital. Other than that I have no further information and cannot tell you anything else." The detective nodded to Mr. Shue before leaving.

It was not dude like for a guy to faint and especially a 6 foot 3 football player like Finn Hudson but all he could see was everything spinning around him before it went completely black.

TBC