"Great, thanks Finn." Rachel spoke into her phone before hanging up.
She had been on the phone with Finn ever since Quinn had given birth to Beth. Rachel had wanted to be there for Quinn, but the glee club voted that she be the one member to stay back at the competition to check out Vocal Adrenaline. It hurt that nobody wanted her there at the hospital, but she wasn't going to protest. After all, she would never forgive herself if she were to miss Jesse's performance. Rachel needed to be there to point and laugh hysterically in his face when he screwed up.
Unfortunately, he hadn't made a single mistake. Vocal Adrenaline's Queen performance had been absolutely flawless. After giving Shelby Corcoran a little word of wisdom, Rachel determined that she no longer had a reason to be there. It was obvious that they weren't going to win, especially not with Sue Sylvester as a judge.
Devoid of hope, Rachel had called up Finn as she made her way to the dressing room to gather her things. After getting caught up on the news of Quinn's baby, she hung up and began to pack her bags, only to be quickly interrupted by a light knock on the door.
"It's unlocked!" Rachel shouted over her shoulder, folding a blouse and carefully setting it in her duffel.
She heard the familiar squeak of the door opening slowly as somebody entered the room. Assuming it was a girl from some other show choir, hopefully not Vocal Adrenaline, Rachel kept her attention on her bag. As she gathered her makeup brushes, she suddenly felt somebody breathing on her shoulder. Gasping in shock, she froze.
"Rach, you were wonderful out there. That Journey medley was to die for." The all-too-familiar voice of Jesse St. James whispered seductively into Rachel's ear.
Rachel turned to face Jesse, trying as hard as possible to control her breathing as to not hyperventilate. The last thing that she needed was to pass out and potentially land in Jesse's strong arms. She didn't want to give him the wrong idea.
"Jesse, if you've come to laugh at me for losing, please get it over with. I don't have time for your stupid games." She commanded forcefully, causing Jessie to raise his hands innocently.
"First of all, New Directions has not officially lost yet, although it is quite inevitable. Second, I am not here to laugh at you! I actually wanted to talk to you about what happened with us." Jesse explained, frowning.
Rachel raised an eyebrow suspiciously before turning back to her duffel. She couldn't imagine that Jesse had actually come to have a civilized conversation with her. After all, the last time they had seen eachother, Jesse and his teammates were turning Rachel into an omelet.
"I have nothing to say to you, Jesse. I still can't get that damn egg smell out of my hair. It's ruining me." She declared stearnly, attempting to fold a pair of leggings.
Jesse, practically radiating guilt, stepped next to Rachel and gently took the leggings from her tiny hands. He gingerly folded the clothing and set it neatly into the duffel before turning Rachel by the arms to face him. Rachel could not help but to get lost in Jesse's adorably sad puppy-eyes. Those eyes were part of the reason that she had fallen for Jessie in the first place.
"Look Rach, I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't rude to you. I'm not going to stand here and pretend that everything is okay. I know that I hurt you! I know that I was wrong! I just need you to hear me out!" Jesse pleaded, commanding Rachel's full attention.
"You have five minutes to explain yourself, starting right now." Rachel huffed stearnly, folding her arms.
"First, I want to say that I am unbelievably sorry for that whole parking lot incident. Your hair is still gorgeous, despite the fact that my ex-teammates and I soaked it in eggs."
Rachel cocked her head curiously to the left, folding her arms even more tightly, if that were at all possible. She could have sworn that Jesse had just implied that he was no longer part of that disastrously talented squad. She must have misheard him. There's no way that Jesse would resign! After all, he was the lead singer and had earned a fair amount of prestige from the title. Nobody in their right mind would ever let something like that go so easily.
"Excuse me, but did you just say 'ex-teammates'? I thought Vocal Adrenaline was your life. After all, this would be your fourth national title." She interrogated, glaring at Jesse as if he was some sort of nasty convict.
"I handed in the keys to my range rover just after we performed. I'll be finalizing my withdrawl from the team at school on Monday. Surprisingly, Coach Shelby wasn't angry. In fact, she's quitting too." Jesse announced proudly, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.
At that, Rachel's mind began to spin. She would never have imagined that Shelby Corcoran, her biological mother, would ever stop coaching that clan of well-trained snobs and liars. After all, Shelby fit in wonderfully there. Nothing that Vocal Adrenaline could ever do to harm Rachel would ever pierce her heart more deeply than what Shelby had done.
That relentless woman had used Jesse to lure Rachel into her desperately waiting arms, expecting a glorious family reunion. Of course, that had not panned out to Shelby's liking, so she dumped Rachel out of her life like last week's garbage. While Rachel had feigned that the rejection left no impression on her, she was deeply scarred by the whole event.
No amount of counseling could make amends to the heartbreak that Shelby, and in turn Jesse, had caused Rachel. In fact, she had given up therapy altogether. Instead, she adjusted her study and workout schedule in such a way that she would never actually have time to reminisce. The past would not be given the opportunity to bother her any longer.
Except for now, of course.
"W-Why is Shelby quitting?" Rachel asked, turning away from Jesse in an attempt to hide her sadness at the memory of her failed reunion with her mother.
"She has to be free to stay at home and take care of her baby. She got that blonde chick's kid. She said that she and the baby 'made a special connection that she simply could not ignore.' It was apparently 'meant to be'." Jesse groaned, rolling his eyes.
Rachel immediately felt her wounded heart shatter into a million tiny fragments.
Shelby hadn't managed to work things out with Rachel, so she had gotten a replacement baby girl instead. Every moment that she and Rachel should have shared together would be spent with little Beth. Rachel would never receive her opportunity to make memories with her mother like Beth would. She could never go to Shelby for relationship advice, cry into her arms when she was feeling low, or even get any performance advice from her.
She needed to speak with Shelby.
"L-Look, Jesse, I appreciate your apology, but I'm truly not ready to even consider forgiving you. I don't think you understand how much your actions hurt me. If we ever meet again, I pray that you will have changed, because I actually could see a future with you. You just need to grow up first, and so do I." Rachel declared, trying as hard as possible to remain her confident diva-composure.
"I understand, Rachel. If we ever meet again, I'll be better. That is a promise." Jesse swore, taking Rachel's hands in his and swinging them playfully back and forth.
Rachel cleared her throat before removing her hands from Jesse's grasp. She may have been on the road to forgiveness, but she wasn't quite at the hand-holding level yet. Jesse had quite a bit to learn before she would trust him once more.
"Goodbye, Jesse." She whispered, snatching her duffel from the table and strutting out of the dressing room without a backwards glance.
Before she knew it, Rachel found herself at the hospital, asking the lobby clerk where she could find Beth and Shelby. Once she was given the room number and permission to go see the pair, Rachel set off at a slow jog to the maternity ward. For some strange reason that most likely involved a pricey bribe, Shelby had been given her own room in the ward. Rachel guessed that the woman would want to spend time with Beth, but she never imagined that Shelby would take a hospital room away from somebody who really needed it in order to do so.
"I'm coming in. I figured there was no point in having somebody announce my arrival since you certainly didn't do that when you unexpectedly forced yourself into my previously wonderful existence." Rachel declared, barging into Shelby's room and standing, arms crossed, at the foot of the bed in which Shelby was perched, cradling Beth.
"Rachel, I… Please, sit down." Shelby motioned for Rachel to sit on the edge of the bed, smoothing out the sheets so that the area would be more comfortable.
"I only take orders from my dads and occasionally Mr. Schuester, not from strangers who don't respect me. Anyway, I'm not going to be here for long." Rachel declared, shaking her head.
"Look, I didn't want this all to happen the way that it did. I never thought that our little meeting would cau-"
"Our 'little meeting'? Finding your daughter for the first time since her birth constitutes as a 'little meeting'? Well Shelby, you should know that what happened was no little event to me. I had been dreaming about meeting my birth mother ever since I was old enough to know that I had one. I always imagined that the two of us would run in dramatic slow-motion into eachother's arms and share a timeless embrace. I figured we would end up breaking out into a beautiful ballad, like in the movies." Rachel began to pace as she ranted, tears threatening to cloud her vision.
"Well, Rach, life isn't like it is in the movies. Life is hard. Maybe if we ever were to meet again, we'll both have learned from this, and we can make it work. Until then, I just cannot commit myself to a life that I've never been a part of." Shelby tried to console, laying a hand on Rachel's arm.
Rachel yanked her arm away instantly and stepped back from the bed. She could not believe what she was hearing.
"Trust me, Shelby, we won't be meeting again. Have fun with your new baby girl. Maybe you won't screw up with this one." She choked, her eyes swimming with tears.
Before Shelby could respond, Rachel stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
Perhaps her confrontations that day would help her get past some old ghosts, perhaps not. Either way, Rachel knew that one thing was true.
New Directions had won that competition, no matter what place they came in, and Rachel had won all of her battles, no matter how many times she broke down along the way.
Out in the hall, Rachel caught sight of an anxious-looking Finn.
"Finn!" She called, beaming as she broke into a run for her new boyfriend's waiting arms.
"Rachel…" Finn sighed, lifting her up as if she were weightless.
"Finn, promise me you'll never hurt me." She whispered into Finn's ear, unable to prevent a tear from rolling down her cheek.
"Rach, why would I ev-"
"Just promise."
Finn grinned and set Rachel down on the ground gently, wrapping his husky arms around her tiny little waist.
"Rachel, I would rather die than cause you pain." He confessed, gazing into Rachel's chocolate eyes.
At a complete loss for words, Rachel simply returned Finn's stare, enjoying the moment of bliss that always accompanied her times with Finn.
Lost somewhere in Finn's eyes, Rachel's past evaporated, leaving her standing in a shroud of everlasting joy.
She was finally home.