Disclaimer: See last chapters.

Never Alone

Chapter Nine

No one ever expected the most popular guy in school to walk into the choir room that day, especially not after years of bullying them. But Rachel noticed the way Kurt immediately perked up the moment Finn walked into the room, with two of his friends behind him – she half expected a slushy to be pulled from behind their backs, so they could attack them in the one place they all felt safe, the one place they all felt a certain sense of belonging that they never could outside those doors. But instead, Mr Schuester tapped the taller boy on the back and introduced him to the entire group – as though he needed an introduction. Everyone knew who he was, everyone had suffered his pushes, or the slushies, or the dumpster throwing at least once either by him or in his presence.

She just took a deep breath and stared down at her lap the entire time – most people knew of their history, most people had gone to school with them but Kurt, he didn't have a clue. The way his eyes lit up when Finn was around; she wasn't jealous, per se, but she did feel the need to remind him that the jock was one hundred percent straight, and would never even divulge into the 'other side' as she liked to put it. She had known Finn most of her life, she knew he was straight, and Kurt was her friend, she didn't want him to get hurt. But, she kept her mouth shut, and she kept her eyes down, not wanting to voice out loud that she was not okay with this, she didn't want him in the choir room, she didn't want him anywhere near her.

He had a good voice though, she remembered him singing her to sleep a few times, or when he'd join in with her. He was talented, he could be the one person to help them win, and they could always do with more members to actually be eligible for the competitions. The small brunette just looked up for a second, her heart skipping a beat when she caught his eyes, causing her to look quickly back down in her lap, almost scared of what would happen if he tried to speak to her. They had been in high school for almost two years, so why he felt the need to suddenly look at her, and acknowledge that she existed, she wasn't sure.

Finn, on the other hand, just smiled as he looked around, knowing most of the people in the club hated him and his friends for what they had done in the past. But, he had to make nice in order to get the girl back, to get Rachel back into his life, at least as a friend. He sighed, and moved to sit near the back, closer to the girl he had once dated, than he had been in a very long time. It caused his fingers to curl around the bottom of his jacket, as he tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, and what was written on the board as opposed to Rachel Berry. But, she was there, two rows in front of him, directly in front of him and he could only lean forward and just smell those sweet strawberries. Her shampoo hadn't changed, that was for sure – he had always joked how it was appropriate for her, as a Berry, to be so obsessed with smelling like one. He almost scoffed out loud at that one, his thirteen year old self was smooth.

"Shouldn't we listen to Finn sing, at least, Mr Schue?" He finally heard, his eyes looking over to where the voice belonged – Kurt Hummel. The way the boy was looking at him, almost terrified him as his eyes widened and he was beckoned to the front, murmuring for both Puck and Sam to join him before he turned to the front of the small club that had named themselves the New Directions, before he took a deep breath and started to sing. "The broken clock gives a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight.. maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time. And I am here still waiting, though I still have my doubts. I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out. I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing with a broken heart, that's still beating. In the pain there is healing, in your name I find meaning…" His eyes found Rachel's, glad he had managed to get her attention as he continued to sing, not taking his eyes off hers.

"The broken locks were a warning, you got inside my head. I tried my best to be guarded, I'm an open book instead. I still see your reflection inside of my eyes, that are looking for purpose… they're still looking for life. I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing with a broken heart, that's still beating. In the pain, is there healing? In your name, I find meaning. So, I'm holding on…" He moved closer to her as he continued to repeat those last three words, "I'm hanging on another day just to see what you will throw my way. Oh, I'm hanging on, to what you say, you said that I will be okay. The broken lights on the freeway, left me here alone… I may have lost my way now, I haven't forgotten my way home…"

He took a deep breath when the song ended, looking at her as she just stared at him – the tears in her brown eyes broke his heart but he had a momentary hope when she stood up. His arms moving beside his sides, as though he was expecting her to run up to him, and run into his arms – the slap across his face was a burning memory of just how much he hurt her though, as he watched her storm out of the door without another word. Maybe it was going to be a lot harder than he thought it would be – although, he was stupid to think professing his love for her via song, and singing to her in a room full of her friends, would work. He let out a small sigh, frowning when Kurt moved to run after Rachel, along with Tina and Mercedes. They were her friends now, maybe he had to accept that as he moved to sit in the seat she had vacated, his head in his hands. "Fuck." He muttered, pushing Noah off when his own best friend tapped his back to offer a form of comfort.

~ .. ~

After she had run out, she wasn't entirely sure what to do, her hand stinging from the slap she had delivered on his face in the hopes it would hurt as much as she could manage. The small girl just tried to calm herself down, pressing her forehead against her cool locker before she opened it up and threw her stuff in there, murmuring to herself about how she couldn't cry over Finn Hudson, how she couldn't let him win. Finally, the sound of boots tapping down the hallway made her turn around to see her three best friends coming towards her, all confused by what had just happened. She couldn't explain to them, how could she possibly even begin?

"Hey." She whispered, rubbing her eyes before she bit down on her lip, and looked at Kurt, shaking her head. "I… I'm sorry, I should have told you all sooner. We have this stupid past, and it's never going to happen again because high school took care of that… I'm really sorry for not saying anything about him earlier…" She let out a small sigh before she sank down against the lockers, frowning, "How dare he walk in there and make me feel like shit when he's the one who broke up with me? I'm not stupid, okay? I know that when you're dating someone at thirteen, they're not always going to be the person you end up marrying. But… it was different, he was my only friend for a very long time, we did everything together and he… he got popular, I didn't, he chose popularity over me. It was simple… it hurt, but it was simple." She didn't want to say anything else on the matter, glad for Tina's arms around her before Mercedes and Kurt joined in, all offering words of comfort. She had friends, real friends, who wouldn't dump her the moment the slightest bit of popularity crept up on them. She had to rely on that, and not think about the fact Finn Hudson was boycotting the one place she had away from him.