you belong with me

chapter 8

Rachel returned to her house three minutes before the curfew her dads had set for her. As she opened the front door to her house she noticed a light coming from the family room. Of course one of her fathers was up waiting for her to come home.

"Rachel?" Hiram's voice came from the family room as Rachel closed the door behind her. Rachel made her way into the family room and smiled towards Hiram as she took a seat on the couch to remove her shoes.

"How did it go?" Hiram asked, lowering the volume on the television set. "Did you have a nice time?"

Rachel set her shoes off to the side before responding. "Yeah, we had a lot of fun. It's nice to finally have a friend who is as appreciative of the arts as I am." She remembered that Finn and Puck were always supportive of her musical interests, but they never really participated in her hobbies. "It was nice to see Carole too. She freaked out when she saw me, it was just like it used to be."

Hiram smiled, "That's great." His smile gradually faded before he asked, "Was Finn there?" Hiram always thought that Finn and Rachel would end up together, and Rachel figured his hopes never went away.

"Yes, he was there," Rachel replied softly.

"I'm sure it was nice to see him again," Hiram said. "To be over there with him again."

The cold reality of what had become of Finn Hudson washed over Rachel once again. She shrugged her shoulders, "He's different now. He and Noah don't speak anymore, his best friend is Dave Karofsky, he's-"

"Dave Karofsky?" Hiram interrupted. "You mean that boy who used to pick on you when you were little?"

"Yes!" Rachel exclaimed. "He's got Finn in on the bullying now too. It's like he caused Finn to do a total 180. I don't even know who he is anymore."

"But you two used to be so close," Hiram commented.

"Dad, he promised me he'd never forget me," Rachel cried. "He promised that we'd be together one day. He told me that he wanted to be with me. He lied to me. When he first saw me the other day at school he looked at me like I was some ghost from his past coming to haunt him."

Hiram rose from his position on the couch and moved over to sit next to his daughter. He draped an arm around her shoulder, "He's just lost track of himself, Rachel. He got thrown into the wrong crowd. I'm sure the real Finn is still in him somewhere, he just needs the right person to help him see the light." Hiram gently nudged Rachel's side. "Finn really cared about you, Rachel. More than a boy that age should. That doesn't just disappear overnight."

Rachel nodded, absorbing Hiram's words. Eventually she pulled away from his embrace and stood up from the couch. "I'm going to head up to bed before it gets too late." She gave her dad a hug before she made her way to the staircase. Once she was fully inside her bedroom she shut the door behind her and practically threw herself onto her bed. It wasn't too long before she slipped into a deep sleep.

Rachel walked through the school hallway in school the next day feeling very refreshed. The talk with her father the previous night gave her a new sense of confidence about Finn. Her dad was right, Finn lost track of himself, and Rachel was the only one who could bring him back. He hadn't mentioned Quinn or Dave the night before, so maybe he was already transforming back to the real Finn. Rachel smiled to herself, she wouldn't be surprised if the Finn and Quinn relationship came to a screeching halt by the end of the day.

Rachel smiled cheerfully towards her classmates as she passed them in the hallway. She rounded the corner that had her locker, and she prepared herself to exchange her books. However, as soon as her eyes gazed down to the end of the hallway she stopped dead in her tracks.