One hand gripping her glass of brandy and the other massaging her forehead, Rachel slumped on her barstool as the sun set on Manhattan. It had been a whole 6 months without him, 190 days exactly. Everyday she went to the studio and laughed with the children and gossiped with the women and tried to forget. But no matter what, on her way home she'd pass by their favorite bar and sometimes she'd feel the need to go in and order his favorite drink. The bar tender was a sweet guy named Nick. He usually let her sit and stare at the photo on the wall until she tried to order a third drink and he'd send her home, or worst case call Santana to pick her up. Today was one of those bad days.
"Hey Berry, time to go home." Santana wrapped her arm around Rachel trying to pull her away from the bar. With tears in her eyes, Rachel just pointed to the picture framed above the bar of Puck and Rachel. They were sitting on the bar and he's playing guitar and she's laughing. "I miss him San."
"I know you miss him but can we talk about this someplace else. I do have a bar to run." Rachel looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to bother you at work." Santana just smiled and grabbed her hand. She led Rachel outside and put her in a taxi and gave the guy an address Rachel didn't recognize. "Santana? What I thought I was going home? SANTANA!"
Santana waved to Rachel. "You are."
Rachel slumped against the seat and watched the city turn into the buzzing New York she loved. The taxi pulled up to a beautiful apartment building. The doorman opened her door and the front door to the building. A bellman opened the elevator and handed her a rose. "Third floor Ms. Berry." Rachel was too buzzed to really think about what was happening and just nodded and hit the button. The doors opened and she saw two doors on either side of the hall. She followed the one that was emitting delicious smells out of pure instinct and the rumbling in her stomach. She walked into the apartment and saw the duffel bag holding open the door N. Puckerman. Rachel started crying and ran into the door with a new found sense of sobriety. Everything was clear again and she couldn't stop crying and he turned to her from the stove and captured her in his arms. She squeezed her eyes tight and smelt his scent and buried her face in her neck. And when she pulled away to look in his eyes all she saw was the ceiling. It was just a dream, just another horrible dream.