A/N: Here's a new A/U story for you guys! I'm in the middle of at least four stories right now, so please be patient! But I couldn't NOT write this when the idea hit me the other night (if that makes sense). And I'm pretty excited about this one. So, here you go :)

Oh, and I don't own Glee or the characters.

The Opposite of Cabin Fever

New York City isn't exactly the most crime-infested place in the world, but it was definitely on the list of places that weren't exactly the safest. That's one of the reasons why people in New York had to be tough; more often than not, they had to take care of themselves due to the dwindling police presence in the city because of budget cuts. But one young rookie was trying to change that. He wanted to make the streets a safe place to live. Some people call him naïve. His mother insists that he's "just the sweetest!".

Finn Hudson was twenty two years old and had just completed his training at the police academy six months ago. Walking around in his police officer's uniform made Finn feel like the epitome of cool, but since he was a rookie, he still had a lot to learn. And let's not forget to mention that all rookies are endlessly picked on by superior officers for at least a year after they get out of the academy.

It was ten in the morning on a beautiful day in New York and Finn had just clocked out from his overnight shift. Rookies also get the crappiest shifts, too. He was driving along Vine Street in his truck, looking forward to getting back to his tiny apartment and getting some sleep.

Right at that point in time, his department was focusing on a particular family that was wreaking havoc in the crime sector; they kind of reminded Finn of a modern day mob family, committing numerous crimes: burglary, murder, assault, falsification of official documents, and too many other offenses to count. The only problem was that the police couldn't gather the evidence to lock them away. The faces of the entire Florimonte family were posted on a huge whiteboard at the precinct with tons of leads and other things scribbled on it.

Finn had seen those faces for hours a day when he wasn't on patrol. And that's why he was positive that he had just seen Nick Florimonte, one of the younger family members, walk into a gas station that was to the right of him. For a few moments, Finn was totally and completely distracted by the feeling in his gut that something was off.

The last time he had seen Nick, he was arresting him for assault. Finn remembered the incident clearly. Nick was stronger than he looked and it took Finn a few moments of wrestling to subdue the guy.

"Stop resisting!" Finn shouted as he placed the cuffs around Nick's wrists. Once they were secured, Finn pulled the guy to his feet and led him to the patrol car.

"You're really going to regret this, Officer Hudson," Nick said, looking down at Finn's nametag.

"Sure I am, buddy," Finn said, putting him in the backseat of the car.

The next morning, Nick was out on bail. The charges were dropped for insufficient evidence, astounding Finn.

Finn's attention was abruptly brought back to the present when his car slammed into the car in front of him. Finn immediately slammed on his breaks, a slight panic setting in. He looked up and saw that his lane had the red light.

"Shit," he said under his breath. He looked at the car in front of him and noticed at first that it was pretty crappy. He could barely see the driver's head. It was almost completely blocked by the headrest. So he figured that person must be really, really short.

Finn put his car into park before climbing out and surveying the damage. He walked to the front of his car and could plainly see the huge dent that he made in other car.

"Son of a bitch," he complained under his breath. If only he had been paying closer attention! Finn took a deep breath before walking to the driver's side of the other car. He bent over and was taken aback for a second. There, sitting in the driver's seat, was probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was looking at him with a slight panic in her big, brown eyes. Her mouth was slightly ajar and he could see that she had perfect teeth. Her hair was long and brown and looked so shiny. He imagined that it would be really, really soft, too.

"Are you alright?" he asked after he collected his thoughts.

The girl nodded woodenly. "I think so," she murmured.

"Well, how about we pull into that parking lot and get out of the way. We're kind of holding up traffic," Finn said, looking at the cars behind him. The drivers that he could see looked kind of pissed off.

"Alright," the girl said, still seeming a little dazed. Finn really hoped that she didn't hit her head or something.

"I'll be right behind you," Finn said. The girl nodded again and Finn walked back to his car and got in. He put the car into drive and pulled in the parking lot right behind the crappy car of the gorgeous girl. A girl that looked as good as her shouldn't be driving such a piece of shit, he figured. She looked almost like a movie star or something.

Finn shook his head like it was an Etch-a-Sketch, trying to get rid of the thoughts and focus.

He parked next to the girl and watched as she got out of her car. She really was short; she could barely see over the top of her car! Finn shut off his engine before climbing back out. She stood on the driver's side of her car and he stood by the passenger side door.

"Would you like to explain to me what just happened?" the girl shouted at him over the top of the car. He looked at her in surprise and could see that she looked kind of pissed. Obviously she wasn't dazed anymore.

"I'm really sorry," Finn said quickly. "I got distracted."

"Well that's just great! Are you aware that you could have killed me if you were going any faster? Or you could have seriously injured me!" the girl shouted.

"I'm really sorry…" he said, waiting for her to supply her name.

"Rachel Berry," the girl said scathingly.

"Rachel," Finn said. "I'm Officer Finn Hudson and I'm really sorry. I was working all night and I guess my attention just drifted or something." He didn't know why he just told Rachel that he was an officer; maybe part of him was trying to impress her or something.

"Officer?" she said, sounding surprised. "As in police officer?"

"Yeah," Finn said.

"It's good to know that even accomplished police officers have trouble with breaking the law! That makes me feel so safe!" Rachel continued shouting.

"I don't know about the accomplished part. I'm just a rookie," Finn explained abashedly.

"That explains it then!" Rachel shouted. Finn was starting to get annoyed. He apologized and she wasn't seriously hurt, so why the hell was she still yelling at him?

"I get that you're pissed," Finn said slowly, "can you just, like, stop yelling at me? You're making me feel like I'm sixteen again and getting yelled at by my mom."

Rachel smiled just a little before frowning angrily again. "Am I supposed to be happy that you slammed into the back of my car? I have an audition to get to and you're going to make me miss it!"

"This car's kind of a piece of crap," Finn said, chuckling, looking down at the rusted blue thing. "You really shouldn't be that mad. It's not like it's new."

Rachel looked rather offended, almost like she had been slapped. "I'll have you know that my fathers bought me this car for my graduation right before they died. We didn't have a lot of money and I'm really proud of it!"

Finn froze, instantly regretting the words. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," he said quietly, looking ashamed.

"No, you didn't know. You know what they say about assumptions!" Rachel said.

"Yeah. I'm an ass. Sorry," he said.

"I forgive you for your lapse in judgment," she said in a huff.

"Give me your number," Finn said abruptly.

"You just slammed into the back of my car and now you're asking me for my number?" she yelled, looking at him like he was crazy.

Finn rolled his eyes at how ridiculous she was being. "It's for insurance," he explained. "We need to exchange information so we can get your car fixed."

Rachel looked down out of embarrassment. "Oh," she said quietly. Finn almost laughed. "Just let me get some paper," she said, opening her car door back open and searching around inside.

Finn just went into his wallet and pulled out one of his business cards with all of his information on it. He was pretty proud of the title "Officer" printed on the card and he handed them out whenever he could.

Rachel stood back up with a piece of paper in her hand and walked around the front of the car to stand in front of Finn. The first thing Finn noticed was how damn short her skirt was! And she had these amazingly long, tan legs that got him pretty excited. He shook his head, reminding himself that he wasn't some horny teenager anymore. He needed to focus.

He looked up and saw Rachel hold out a card. "I'll just give you my business card. I can assure you that all of the information is accurate. These are the cards I hand out on my auditions, so they don't have any phony numbers or anything on them," she explained quickly. She handed it to Finn. He looked down and saw that it was a light pink color and had a star in the corner. He smiled a little.

"Here's my card," he said, handing his business card over to Rachel. Rachel looked down at it. It was kind of boring, but she let it slide.

"Thank you, officer," Rachel said, looking up at him with a small smile.

"I'm off duty," Finn said with a smile in return. "You can just call me Finn. Rachel smiled at him.

They then both turned their heads sharply when they heard the muted sound of gunshots. Finn tensed quickly and reached for his gun, but then he realized that he didn't have his uniform on. And his other gun was in his glove box.

They both continued staring at the source of the noise in a mixture of confusion and anticipation. Rachel jumped when a man ran from the gas station next to the parking lot they were in. He ran toward them and she could see the gun in his hand.

Finn's stomach dropped when he realized that it was Nick Florimonte holding the gun. He looked at Finn and a look of panic clouded Nick's features before he cleared it and smiled sickly toward Finn.

"Get down!" Finn shouted, pulling Rachel down as Nick raised the gun and fired right to where Finn had been standing a second ago. Finn heard the sound of gunshots hitting his car and was afraid to raise his head.

"We have to get out of here," Finn said calmly to Rachel. He looked at her and realized that she was totally and completely freaking out. "Get in my car," he ordered.

"What?" she shouted as bullets continued flying. "I'm not getting in your car!"

"Get in or get shot," he deadpanned. He then reached his hand up and opened the back door. Rachel looked apprehensive, but Finn grabbed her around her tiny waist and pushed her toward the car. She climbed in quickly.

"Stay down!" he shouted. Finn closed the door before opening the driver's side door and climbing inside. Nick was standing there, reloading his gun, as Finn started his car. Finn ducked down as far he could, praying that he could pull away before Nick was done reloading.

Rachel peeked out of the window and looked right at the man. He was fumbling around with his gun, so she figured it was safe for her to sit up. Just as she did, the guy looked right at her. The look of pure hatred on his face made Rachel feel like getting sick.

Finn pulled away quickly just as Nick raised the gun again and aimed it at them.

Rachel dropped just as the bullet shattered the window.

"Rachel!" Finn shouted.

He pulled out of the parking lot and sped toward the street, tires squealing. Once they were a safe distance away, Finn glanced back at Rachel.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sounding panicked.

Rachel sat up slowly and it took her a few moments to speak. "I think so," she said quietly.

"Did you get hit?" he asked.

"No," she said, still quiet.

"Good," he said. He continued driving at a quick speed toward the police station. He needed to make a report and let everyone know that he and Rachel were almost killed by some maniac!

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked from the backseat.

Finn looked at her in the rearview mirror and noticed that she looked a little shaken. "We're going to the station. The captain will tell us what to do next."

He glanced in the rearview mirror again and saw her nod solemnly.

Minutes later, they were pulling into the station and Rachel hadn't spoken a word. It was a complete 180 as compared to the way she was shouting at him before. He parked his car before climbing out and opening the back door for Rachel. She climbed out slowly and Finn noticed the small cuts on her arms and legs.

"Are you okay?" he asked, motioning to the cuts.

"I'm fine," she said. "The glass from your window cut me." Finn was a little worried. She almost sounded like a robot. He put his hand on her upper back and led her toward the station.

Before they could make it to the door, Rachel put her hand over her mouth and ran toward the garbage can right by the entrance. Finn cringed a little when he heard her throw up noisily into it. He turned back to his car and grabbed the unopened bottle of water out of his cup holder and the pack of gum from his center console.

He returned to Rachel and saw her still with her head bent over the garbage can. He gently placed his hand on her upper back. She stood up straight and looked at him. He smiled a little before handing her the bottled water and gum.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"No problem," he said.

Rachel drank some water, getting rid of the taste of vomit, before placing a piece of gum in her mouth.

"You ready to go in now?" Finn asked. Rachel looked up at him and nodded. He put his hand back on her back, really enjoying the contact, before leading her into the station.

-glee-glee-glee-

"You've got to be kidding me?" Finn shouted at his captain.

"I'm afraid not, Hudson," Captain Reynolds huffed.

"I understand why Rachel has to go into protective custody, but why me?" Finn asked.

"You were off duty when this occurred. Technically, you were a citizen. And it's pretty obvious from what both you and Miss Berry have said that he knows who you are and was pretty adamant about killing you," Captain Reynolds explained.

Finn sat back in the chair in his captain's office and let out a slow breath.

"How long will this go on?" Finn asked.

"As long as it takes to find him," the Captain said. "Florimonte killed two people at the gas station before attempting to kill the two of you. Rachel's car had been gone through. Her wallet was taken, but we found her license on the ground. He shot a hole in her picture."

Finn took another deep breath. "Where do I go now?" he asked.

"Both you and Miss Berry will be relocating to Jersey for the time being. We already have the reservation at the motel ready for you," the captain said.

"Wait. The both of us are going to be staying there together?" he asked.

"We don't have a big budget, Hudson. You know that. We can't afford to keep the two of you at two different places. The faster we find Florimonte, the faster things will get back to normal," the captain said.

Finn looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "Fine," he huffed. "What next?"

"You'll report downstairs and we'll give you a credit card. It's untraceable and to be used for food and clothing only. No beer or anything unnecessary," he said.

"Wait. You can't afford two motel rooms, but you can give me a credit card?" he asked incredulously.

"We'll take a little of it out of your paycheck here and there," the captain said, shrugging. "Plus, you won't be getting paid for a while since you won't be working…"

"Awesome," Finn said sarcastically.

-glee-glee-glee-

"Do you know where I can find Rachel Berry?" Finn asked one of the people at the main desk.

"She's making a phone call," the older woman said. "Apparently, she has a cat that needs to be taken care of and insisted that she receive her one phone call. I told her she wasn't under arrest and that it was too dangerous, but she's pretty persistent."

Finn chuckled. "Sounds like her," he said. He thanked the woman before sitting down in the lobby area, waiting for Rachel.

Minutes later, he saw her walking toward him while wiping her eyes. He stood up quickly.

"You okay?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "I'll be just fine. My landlord's a really sweet old man. He's worried about me and everything. He's all alone, just like me. His wife died two years ago and he told me to be safe and that he didn't know what he'd do without me. Made me cry," she said, sounding embarrassed.

"He sounds awesome," Finn said with a small smile.

"He is," Rachel said with a wide grin. "This might sound weird, but I consider him my best friend."

"That's not weird," Finn said quickly. "My mom's my best friend. Then there's my friend Puck, but I can only tolerate him half the time."

Rachel smiled even more widely and Finn was mesmerized for a moment.

"So what do we do now?" Rachel asked.

"There's a cab waiting outside for us to take us to the motel. We can grab some food or something after we get there. Oh, and some clothes," Finn said.

Rachel took a deep breath, but nodded. "Let's go then," she said, trying to sound brave.

-glee-glee-glee-

"I seriously can't believe this is happening," Rachel said in disbelief from next to Finn. The cab was on its way to the motel and Rachel still couldn't believe that things like this really happened. "I feel like I'm on some terrible cop drama show or something."

"I like shows like that," Finn said, shrugging.

"Really?" Rachel asked, surprised. "I thought that most cops were offended since the shows aren't really like real life."

"Well, they're not. I mean, most of the time, I'm just scaring kids away from loitering or something or arresting people for being drunk in public or giving people tickets for traffic violations," Finn said, feeling a little embarrassed. "Today is the most action I've ever seen. Stuff like that doesn't really happen like that all the time. But I watch those shows and realize that it could be a lot more dangerous and stuff. Sure, it is a dangerous job sometimes, but today is the closest I've come to being killed."

"I haven't thanked you yet," Rachel said.

"For what?" Finn asked, sounding confused.

"You kind of saved my life," Rachel explained.

Finn chuckled. "I yelled at you and shoved you in my car. Any other time, that's abduction," he said.

"Well, this time, you saved me. You could have left me or something, but instead you made sure I was safe," Rachel said.

"It's my job," Finn said quickly.

"You were off duty," Rachel countered.

"Fine then. It was a reflex," he said.

"Whatever you say," Rachel said, laughing a little. Finn smiled. He really liked her laugh. "Thanks for having the reflex to save people."

"No problem," Finn said.

-glee-glee-glee-

"I'm pretty sure I just contracted Chlamydia from just looking at this bed," Finn complained with a frown.

"I've seen worse," Rachel said, shrugging. Hell, I've slept on worse, she thought. They were in the motel room, which was probably one of the cheapest motels that Finn had ever seen. The blankets on the bed looked kind of gross and the couch with the fold out bed looked lumpy and uncomfortable. The room was tiny. And Finn was kind of scared to go and see how nasty the bathroom looked.

"Are you hungry?" Finn asked, taking a seat on the couch while Rachel plopped on the corner of the bed.

"I still feel kind of sick, actually," Rachel said. "I'm not a cop. I'm not used to people wanting to kill me."

"It does take some getting used to," Finn said, shrugging.

"If you're hungry, we can grab you something and then find somewhere to get some clothes and other necessities," Rachel said.

"Sounds great," Finn said.

-glee-glee-glee-

"I am not sharing razors," Finn said, looking at Rachel like she had three heads.

"Finn, it's cheaper to just get the one pack instead of me getting another," Rachel said.

"But girls shave their legs and other stuff," he said quietly.

Rachel rolled her eyes at him being so ridiculous. "Fine. Let's spend more money than we need to," she said, sounding exasperated.

"Why do you care?" Finn asked. "It's not like this is coming out of your paycheck."

"I care because I know what it's not like to have a lot of money and I don't want to spend all of yours," Rachel snapped.

"Oh. Well, I'm pretty sure that an extra pack of razors won't kill me," he said, throwing some pink razors into the shopping cart.

He walked behind Rachel and couldn't help to stare at her ass. It was… perfect. Sure, she was kind of annoying, but he could totally forgive her with an ass like that.

"Hell, no," Finn said quickly as Rachel went to put some shampoo and conditioner in the cart. "I am not smelling like a chick."

"Well, I refuse to smell like a man," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Isn't there some, like, gender neutral shampoo or something?" Finn asked.

Rachel let out her breath in a huff before grabbing the shampoo and conditioner and putting it back on the shelf. After some more searching, which involved opening the shampoo and conditioners and sniffing them, Finn and Rachel finally agreed on a scent.

"I feel uncomfortable," Finn said, standing in the middle of the aisle. He was surrounded by tampons and other feminine products.

"Don't be ridiculous, Finn," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. She scanned the shelves and found the tampons that were the cheapest but still worked fairly well. She threw the tampons into the cart and Finn slight cringed away from them, making Rachel roll her eyes again.

"Will this brand suffice?" Rachel asked, holding up the box of toothpaste.

"That's fine," Finn said, shrugging.

"Good. We wouldn't want you having girly breath or anything if we chose the wrong brand," she said sarcastically. She turned in time to see Finn scowl at her.

Rachel and Finn then spent some more time trying to find clothes. Finn was pretty simple to shop for. He just grabbed some plain t-shirts and basketball shorts since it was the middle of summer. Part of him was kind of glad that Rachel was there 'cause she totally reminded him that he would need socks and underwear.

Then Finn stood there, bored out of his mind, as Rachel looked at the summer dresses. "Are you sure we shouldn't be in the kids' section?" Finn said with a smile, looking at her small stature.

Rachel glared at him. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but it turns out that I, Rachel Berry, was wrong," she huffed.

"What are you talking about?" Finn asked in confusion.

"I thought you were nice, but you're turning out to be kind of a jerk," Rachel said. "You made fun of my car, you're making fun of how vertically challenged I am. I wonder what's next."

"I am not a jerk," Finn insisted.

Rachel looked at him with disbelief written all over her face. "Sure you aren't," she said. Finn scowled at her again. After she was done picking out some dresses and undergarments, she and Finn walked over to the food section of the store.

"What kind do you like?" Finn asked, motioning to the lunch meat.

"I'm a vegan. I don't eat animal byproducts," Rachel said.

Finn turned his head and looked at her quickly. "Really? Isn't eating all that vegan stuff more expensive?"

"Not if you know what to buy," Rachel said. "I'm pretty good at finding the bargains."

Ten minutes later, they had enough food for breakfast and lunches for the next couple of days. They spent way less than Finn expected. He had to admit that Rachel was pretty badass at shopping and saving money.

The store was literally a block away from the motel, so they had no problem carrying the bags to the motel. Finn offered to carry more bags than Rachel, but this slightly insulted her.

"I am not some weak woman, Finn! I'm stronger than I look!" she exclaimed. Then, she grabbed six of the nine bags and carried them herself, surprising Finn. He walked behind her on the way back to the hotel and couldn't help but chuckle to himself when she had to keep adjusting the bags because the weight was getting to her.

He was even more surprised that she didn't ask him to grab some of the bags from her. They were in the hotel room and she set them down on the tiny kitchen table.

"See! I told you I was strong," Rachel said with a satisfied smile.

"I'm pretty sure that you're just too stubborn to admit that you needed help," Finn said with a smirk.

"There you go being a jerk again," Rachel huffed.

Finn glared at her but didn't say anything. They put the things away in silence. There was a tiny closet inside with a small dresser. There were only a couple of hangers and Rachel claimed them for her dresses, which didn't really bother Finn. He did get a little annoyed when Rachel tried to straighten up his stuff more.

"Will you just leave my stuff alone?" Finn said, sounding exasperated.

"I'm just trying to keep this place tidy, Finn," Rachel snapped. "There's no excuse for you to be messy."

Finn brought his hand up and rested it to his forehead. "I swear you're giving me a headache," he complained.

"Trust me, Finn, I would much rather be at my place rather than stuck here with you cleaning up after you like you're a child!" Rachel shouted.

"Well, I'd much rather be on patrol for three days straight than sit here and listen to you yelling at me for stupid shit!" Finn shouted back.

"It's your fault we're even here in the first place!" Rachel yelled.

"My fault? How the hell is this my fault?" he asked, sounding angry and confused.

"If you hadn't crashed your car into mine in the first place, we wouldn't have witnessed a crime and had some lunatic insisting on killing us! And I would have made it to my audition and gotten the part and would have finally done something with my life!" Rachel yelled with tears forming in her eyes.

"You're one of those people," Finn said harshly, chuckling.

"One of what 'people'?" Rachel snapped, still with tears forming in her eyes.

"One of those struggling little actors who would rather professionally lie and make tons of money doing it instead of getting a real job!" Finn shouted.

Rachel stepped away from him. "You don't know anything about me," she said coldly.

"Sure I do," Finn said, getting frustrated. "You sit there and think that you're special 'cause you have talent, so you insist that everyone treat you like you're royalty or something! News flash, babe! It's time to grow up!"

"I was wrong. You're not a jerk. You're an asshole," Rachel said firmly. Finn watched as her face crumbled and she started crying.

Finn immediately regretted everything he said as soon as she started crying. I am an asshole, he thought to himself. But instead of apologizing, he just stood there like an idiot and watched Rachel run to the front door. She pulled the door open and ran outside, slamming it behind her.

Rachel didn't go far since she didn't know this area of Jersey very well. But she couldn't help but be totally crushed by what Finn had said. Being on stage acting and singing was in her bones; it was the only thing she had ever wanted to do since the tender age of two. Her fathers put her in every singing and dancing class they could to try and hone her skills. They had faith in her and wanted to see her shine.

Shortly after high school graduation, they were in a car accident. Neither of them survived. That's part of the reason why Rachel was so freaked out today. She was very nervous when in a car, so when Finn hit her, it scared the crap out of her and reminded her of how she lost her fathers.

Thinking of them made her feel like she was letting them down. They had so much faith in her and supported her so much. They would tell her constantly how excited they were to see her finally land a starring role on Broadway. And here she was, three years out of high school, without even an understudy role to put on her resume. Casting directors told her that she just wasn't "right" for the role.

One even had the audacity to tell her to come back after she had a nose job. So, instead of doing what she wanted, Rachel was forced to become a bartender at a bar a few blocks from her place, where the amount of money she made depended on how little of clothes she was wearing. It wasn't the most honorable of jobs, but it put food on her table. And helped to feed her cat, Sophia.

Rachel lived above a convenience store owned by Charles, who was also her landlord. He lived in the only other apartment in the building, right next door to her. He really was a sweet older man. He reminded her of her fathers and he seemed to care about her just as much as they did, too. He even made her sing for him at least once a night. His five children were all grown and only one of them still lived in New York.

As Rachel sat there, she realized how much she missed Charles. She wasn't supposed to call him for safety reasons, but one little phone call couldn't hurt. She needed him to tell her everything would be okay.

Rachel went into the main office of the motel and asked to use the telephone. The owner of the motel was kind of gross and was obviously flirting with Rachel, so it wasn't difficult for her to convince him to let her use the phone. She even dialed *67 before Charles's number so that the number would show up blocked.

"Hello?" a female voice asked. The woman almost sounded like she had been crying.

"Hi," Rachel said as pleasantly as she could. "Is Charles available?"

"Is this Rachel?" the voice asked.

"Um, yes," Rachel said carefully.

"It's Mercedes, Rachel," the voice said. Oh, Charles's daughter! Rachel remembered.

"Hi, Mercedes. Is your dad there?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, I don't know how to tell you this…" Mercedes began.

"Tell me what?" Rachel said, feeling confused.

"I know how much you cared about my dad," Mercedes said, sounding choked up. "And I don't blame you for what happened."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, feeling her stomach drop.

"My dad's dead, Rachel," Mercedes said quietly. "He was shot this afternoon."

"He can't be dead! I just talked to him!" Rachel protested.

"He's gone, Rachel," Mercedes said sadly. "I found him when I came with his medicine. And I found a note…"

"What did it say?" Rachel asked after a moment. She felt as if she would collapse at any moment.

"It said 'I will find Rachel Berry'," Mercedes said. "The cops think they know who did it but they won't tell me anything."

That instant, Rachel knew exactly who did it, too. She felt like getting sick again.

"I have to go, Mercedes," Rachel said quietly.

"Okay. Call me sometime and I'll let you know about funeral arrangements," Mercedes said, sounding like she was on the verge of crying again. "And don't worry about your cat. She likes me and I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thank you," Rachel said. "And I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I appreciate that," Mercedes said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Rachel said simply. She hung up the phone and walked right out of the office, ignoring the comments of the creepy motel owner. She stomped all the way to her and Finn's room, trying to contain her sadness and rage. She felt like she was rapidly going insane.

She burst through the door and slammed it shut behind her.

"There you are!" she heard Finn say in relief. He looked at her face and realized that she looked angrier than he had seen her so far. It was slightly frightening. "What's going on?" Finn asked warily.

"That son of a bitch!" Rachel yelled. She turned and punched the wall as hard as she could, making Finn jump. She then cried out in pain and pulled her hand into her chest.

"Shit, Rach!" Finn said, walking forward to survey the damage. He reached out to grab her hand, but she remembered that he hurt her feelings, so she stepped away from him.

"Don't touch me," she said harshly. She continued to cradle her hand as angry tears fell down her cheeks.

"Sorry!" Finn said quickly, holding up his hands in defeat. "Who the hell are you pissed at now?"

"Charles is dead!" Rachel shouted. "That Nick guy killed him and it's all my fault!" Finn stood there, frozen for a second as Rachel plopped down onto the bed.

"Wait. How do you know he's dead?" Finn asked.

Rachel took a deep breath. She had tears in her eyes, but Finn couldn't tell if they were caused by her being sad, in pain, or angry. Maybe it was all three.

"I called his place from the motel phone. Don't worry, I blocked the number. His daughter answered and told me that he was shot. They found a note and it said 'I will find Rachel Berry'. Nick did it. I know it," Rachel said. Finn closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew Nick did it, too. Finn was kind of glad that he didn't really have any friends or family here that could be hurt because of this.

"I'm really sorry, Rachel," Finn said sincerely.

"I don't need your pity," Rachel said. "This is just the hard life of an unsuccessful actress that needs everyone to treat her like royalty. Don't bother."

Finn was about to say something else, but Rachel went into the bathroom and slammed the door.

"Shit," Finn complained under his breath.

-glee-glee-glee-

It took half an hour for Rachel to come out of the bathroom. Finn tried calling her name so that he could apologize, but she just ignored him. She went over to where her new things were and grabbed a tank top and some shorts for pajamas before going back into the bathroom.

Minutes later, she came back out after changing and brushing her teeth and face. She walked right past Finn without saying a word and climbed into the bed. She turned off the lamp closest to her and faced away from him.

"Rachel," Finn said quietly yet clearly. She just laid there and ignored him. "Rachel," he said again, waiting for a response.

Finn huffed before sitting down on the bed at her feet, facing her. "Come on, Rach. It's physically impossible to fall asleep that quickly."

Rachel's eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Finn was a little intimidated to be honest. She was tiny, but she definitely packed a punch. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier," Finn said. "You were right. I was being an asshole and I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated by this whole situation and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have insulted you like that."

Rachel scrutinized his expression for a few moments and decided that he really was sorry. "You're forgiven," she said. "But I would appreciate it if you got to know me before making assumptions about my life."

"Will do," he said, nodding. Rachel sat up and scooted next to him.

"And I'm sorry for snapping at you," she said. "I'm kind of like that all the time, honestly. I'm just a tad bit controlling."

"A 'tad bit'?" Finn asked with a smile.

Rachel smiled just a little. "Fine," she huffed. "I'm totally and completely controlling. I'm used to working hard and getting what I want and I like things a certain way. I'm sorry if that's a little difficult to handle."

Finn shrugged. "I think I can get used to it," he said. They sat side by side in silence for a few moments. "And I'm sorry about Charles. I can tell how much you care about him."

Rachel nodded slowly before she broke out into tears. She dropped her head into her hands, moaning a little when she moved her hand that she punched the wall with. Finn wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She rested her head on his chest and he held her as she cried.

Minutes later, the sobbing noise quieted. Rachel sat up and wiped her eyes. "Do you want to know the worst part?" she asked Finn, looking up at him with bleary eyes. He couldn't explain why, but it hurt him to see her like this.

"What?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't even think I can go to his funeral," Rachel said.

Finn reached a hand up and placed it on her back, rubbing it soothingly. "Probably not," Finn said. "Nick could go and just see if you show up or something."

"Great," Rachel said sarcastically. She reached up and wiped her eyes again.

"Can I ask you something?" Finn said.

"Go ahead," Rachel said.

"Well, while you were off making your phone call and stuff, I tried to open that fold out bed and it's broken," Finn said.

"That's not a question," Rachel informed him.

"Right. Well, I was wondering if I could, you know, share the bed with you. I'll totally keep my distance and everything," Finn assured her. Rachel smiled a little.

"What happened to getting Chlamydia from the bed?" she asked with a smile.

"I think that's better than what the floor might give me," he said, looking at the carpet with a frown.

Rachel giggled a little and Finn felt himself smile because of it. "That's fine, Finn," Rachel said. "I must warn you that I'm a snuggler. If you wake up and I'm all over you, it's because I automatically snuggle. Not because I'm coming onto you or anything."

"Uh huh," Finn said with a grin. "I know I'm irresistible. I understand if you can't control yourself around me."

Rachel rolled her eyes before elbowing him in the side. "You're hilarious," she said sarcastically. Finn laughed before getting up off the bed. Rachel laid back down and rolled onto her side again, pulling the blankets up over her. Finn walked over to the door and locked it before grabbing some pajamas and going into the bathroom to change.

Minutes later, Finn joined Rachel in the bed with some of his new shorts and a t-shirt on. He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Goodnight, Rachel," Finn said softly.

"Goodnight, Finn," Rachel replied. Hearing him say her name made him smile. If only Finn could see her, 'cause he would have seen her smiling, too.

-glee-glee-glee-

TBC

A/N: There's the first chapter! Leave some comments and let me know if you want me to keep going! I really like this story and I hope you guys do as well :)