AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another oneshot...(I do alot of these). I hope you enjoy this one. it's long-ish. I do hope you enjoy :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee.
Rachel sat with her head buried in her hands and her back blocking the front door helplessly. She looked around the room and sighed loudly. There was not square of floor that didn't have anything smashed or broken open on it. She crushed her head even more at the sight. It wasn't that she felt sick. It wasn't that she had a major cleanup process to go through. It was that five years, five years had just gone down the drain. She had no one to turn to. She hadn't talked to any Glee club members for years. She hadn't talk to them since the wedding. In fact, the wedding had been so horrible for her she shut herself off from the rest of them completely. Only one person stood by her completely and she had just managed to screw that one up.
Rachel picked up her phone from beside her and scrolled through the contacts. Artie Abrams... Blaine Anderson... Mike Chang... Tina Cohen-Chang... Sam Evans... Quinn Fabray... Finn Hudson... Kurt Hummel... Mercedes Jones... Santana Lopez... Brittany Pierce... Noah Puckerman... Lauren Zizes. None of them seemed appropriate; she hadn't said two words any of them, except Finn and Kurt and obviously Blaine. Her heart seemed to break even more at the thought of his name. She turned to the other selection of names. Amelia, no. Kara, no. Ryan, no. Alex, no. She didn't even finish the list off. She had no friends. She had had friends but she'd turned away from them. She'd pushed them away. She hadn't even bothered to change the last names in her phone.
Sammy padded over to Rachel, who was now curled up in a ball. The young golden retriever nudged Rachel with her wet, slimy nose and squeezed her way up underneath Rachel's trembling arm. The dog let a sneeze and Rachel wiped her face clean. "Ew, Sammy! That's disgusting!" Sammy just shook her head at Rachel in response.
Rachel jumped at the noise of her phone ringing. She looked down at the number and fell back in surprise. She sat up rubbed her head and answered the phone with a weak, "Hello?"
"RACHEL BERRY!" The voice on the other end wailed at her.
"Yes?"
"Why haven't you talked to me? It's been what? Two weeks?"
"I couldn't-"
"That is the biggest cop-out I have ever heard Rachel. You could, you just chose not to. By the way, I thought I'd let you know that you've missed dozens of reunions. People are starting to think you're dead! And then my brother just shows up to my apartment banging on the door and Blaine interrupts my very important evening ritual because Finn's in tears! What the hell happened?" Kurt explained, rather frustrated, to Rachel.
"We fought Kurt. There's nothing more to tell," Rachel began to tear up at losing the one person she had ever loved and then she got a phone call from Kurt defending him when she had no one. She just couldn't handle it all.
"I gathered as much Rachel. What did you fight about? I need to know so I can help him. But more importantly, are you okay?"
"No, I'm not. We fought because of my alienation of everyone. He wants me to go to the party coming up and I don't think I can. I don't think I can face them all,"
"Rachel, listen to me. That was years ago. Puck and Lauren have gotten over it! And it wasn't even your fault, they understand that. He wasn't meant to be there! He gatecrashed. You know that. It was four years ago. You need to let it go!"
"He was still there because of me! He should never have been there; I should never have been there! Finn doesn't understand! I nearly destroyed our relationship!" Rachel exclaimed. The wedding had been an experience that Rachel would rather forget. Not only did she ruin one of her best friends' big day, she almost ruined her relationship with Finn.
"Jesse nearly ruined your relationship, not you Rachel! I've been talking to them all and you know what they all ask me? They all say 'Have you seen Rachel lately? I miss her a lot.' Even Santana has been asking. Now that is saying something. Would you please just come to the party tomorrow, for me?"
"I don't know, Kurt."
"Please Rachel? Just so everyone knows that you're still alive. Please?"
"Oh, okay. But I'm only staying for half an hour."
"Awesome! I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that Kurt hung up the phone. Rachel sighed and placed her phone down again. She snuggled up to Sammy and sighed again. She couldn't help thinking she'd just made a horrible mistake.
Rachel knocked on the door of Kurt's third floor apartment late afternoon. She could hear several voices and then the tell tale laugh of Santana ringing through the apartment. She heard Kurt excuse himself, heard Finn say he had to pee and then heard the Kurt-like footsteps approach the door. She watched the door knob turn and then found herself looking into Kurt's eyes. He pulled her into an embrace and led her inside. She held back just outside the room filled with her friends.
"Come on, Rachel. There's nothing to be frightened of,"
"Finn," she croaked out nervously.
"He'll be fine," Kurt said as he dragged Rachel into the living room. Kurt let out a nervous cough to grab everyone's attention and they all turned to face him. "Hey guys, look who decided to make an appearance?"
Quinn was the first to jump off the lounge and attack Rachel with hugs. "Rachel! It's so good to see you," she whispered and then stepped out of the way. They went through a round of hugs and kind words and then it was Lauren's turn. Rachel shifted nervously expecting the cold shoulder from Lauren, but instead was shocked with a bear hug.
"Rachel! I'm so glad you came. I've missed you. We so need to catch up," she exclaimed happily before returning to Puck's side.
"I think we all need to catch up with Rachel," Sam cheered from his spot on the floor.
The room was silent for just long enough to hear the toilet flush and Sam jerked up from the floor and headed towards the bathroom. So someone knows, thought Rachel. She looked at everyone, who were watching her nervously and then she realised that everyone knew. So she decided to reassure them. "Guys, I'm not letting a silly fight ruin what could be an amazing afternoon with my best friends! Let's get this parted started!" She yelled out and headed straight for the booze. Puck let out a loud cheer at his 'Jewish princess' finally letting loose.
An hour passed and Sam and Finn still hadn't appeared but it wasn't bothering Rachel. She was having an amazing time with her friends and for the first time since the fight she wasn't bothered by it. Puck suggested a serious game of spin the bottle that earned him a hit from Lauren who told him he only wanted to play because of the chance of making out with Rachel and the whole room erupted into laughter that brought Sam and Finn out from their hiding place.
"Finn, Sam! You just missed an epic game of UNO! Come sit down dude!" Puck ordered the two boys standing nervously at the door to the room. Sam slid over to sit between Quinn's legs and Finn found a seat next to Brittany. Rachel smiled at him but he only looked at her and then looked down. Rachel turned her attention back to the game that was getting more intense with every minute.
"I still think we should play spin the bottle," Puck said winking at Rachel. Lauren glared at him and slapped his back.
"Babe, you're not fooling anyone. We all know you just wanna make out with Rachel. Give it a rest," Lauren was quite fond of openly embarrassing the poor guy.
"No one is kissing my girlfriend, except me!" Finn said defensively. Rachel smiled to herself. There was still a glimmer of hope for their relationship yet. As if to prove his point, Finn stood up and walked over to where Rachel was sitting. He leant down and kissed her square on the lips. The kiss was one of the best that they'd ever shared. The room erupted into a chorus of whole whistles and cries. Finn pulled out of the kiss and smiled down at her before moving to sit next to her on the lounge.
The rest of the night went by without a hitch. They ordered in and spent much of the evening in their own little groups. Finn stuck by Rachel's side all night, afraid that if he left her alone he'd lose her for good. An irrational fear for him but he was more afraid that Puck would try something on her and he couldn't let that happen. When it was time for everyone to leave Finn hesitated.
"Are you staying here again, Finn?" Rachel asked, worried.
"I don't know Rachel. Am I still welcome there?" Finn asked his girlfriend.
Rachel was horrified that Finn thought he wouldn't be welcome at the apartment anymore. "Of course you are. I'm not keeping you out. I just got you back. I'm never letting you go again,"
Finn smiled at her and drove her home, treated her to dessert and apologised profusely. Rachel had to tell him several times that it was okay but he still continued to apologise about the week he'd spent away from his girlfriend. Apparently, Kurt had made him think really hard about why Rachel refused to go.
"Anyway," he continued, "I was going to wait before I did this but I thought now was a good time," he grabbed Rachel's petite hands and stood her up. He then told her to stay standing and reached into the pocket of his jacket and clasped his hand around a small, black box. He bent down on one knee and took one hand in his. "Rachel Berry, I love you so much. I've loved you since that day in the auditorium in freshman year, the day I kissed you. I loved you when I was with Quinn. I loved you when you were with Jesse. I've loved you every day since high school. Rachel Berry, will you marry?"
Rachel was stunned. She was rendered speechless, something that didn't often happen to Rachel Berry. All she could do was nod her head over and over and over and a big goofy grin spread across her face. Finn smiled at her and slid the simple ring onto her finger and then stood up and held her in a tight embrace.
"Yes, yes, yes! Oh hell yes!" She managed to scream at him and then she kissed him hard. Finn was about to take things further but Rachel pulled out. "I have to call people!" Finn just groaned. "Oh babe, I promise when I'm done I'll thank you extremely well." She said seductively and it was all Finn could do not to take her then and there. Rachel bounded away from Finn and dialled a number into the house phone.
"OH MY GOD MERCEDES! You have no idea what I'm about to tell you!"
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