Author's Note: Hello my dears :) This is the first chapter for my first ever fan-fiction! I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to my best friend Amy, who has very kindly taken up the role as 'editor' for this story :) I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee and/or any of the characters.
Chapter 1: Rachel
Rachel was sitting silently, albeit impatiently, in the choir room as she waited for Kurt to arrive. He was only three minutes late, but she was so excited and nervous, those three minutes felt more like three hours. Her anxiety, which became clear to Kurt as he strutted through the choir room door, caused him to grind to a halt.
"Rachel...are you okay?" Kurt asked. Rachel jolted her head towards Kurt and beamed unconvincingly at him.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she replied, gathering up her school things in one swift movement.
"Maybe because your face is as white as a ghost, and your lip is bleeding as if you've been biting it?" Rachel just stared at the floor, not quite knowing how to respond.
"Wait, you're not nervous are you?" Kurt inquired. Damn it, he knows Rachel thought, trying to think of a totally untruthful, yet believable response.
"Um, no, uh of course not, I'm just, uh really cold...Brrr!" she said, whilst miming a cold action.
"Okay, for an aspiring actress, that was pretty awful Rachel!" Kurt laughed, embarrassment immediately flashing across Rachel's face. "Look, Rachel, you are amazing, okay? You don't need to be nervous, I mean, this is Ohio! How many other people from around here are gonna have as much talent as you?" Rachel looked up at Kurt, with a glint of hope in her eyes. "Apart from me, of course" he added playfully. Rachel couldn't help but giggle at this statement "You're so modest, do you know that?" she said.
"I know, now let's go!" Kurt replied, grabbing Rachel's hand and pulling her out of the choir room.
Rachel and Kurt arrived at the Ohio 'mixer' for the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts applicants, and practically sprinted into the building, adrenalin coursing through them. They were fully prepared to amaze the other applicants with their rendition of 'Ding-Dong the Witch Is Dead' and showcase their talent and individuality...or so they thought. As soon as they burst through the doors, they were greeted by a group of applicants who, much to Rachel and Kurt's dismay, didn't just act like Rachel and Kurt, but looked like them as well. But before they could completely freak out, they were dragged to the front seats by a Rachel look-alike whilst her fellow applicants were taking their positions on the stage. The afore-mentioned Rachel look-alike took centre stage, and broke into an upbeat and powerful rendition of 'Anything Goes' mashed with 'Anything You Can Do', with the other applicants tap dancing around her.
The stunning performance left Kurt and Rachel completely speechless, and to say they were overwhelmed would be an understatement. As soon as the final note was belted out, Kurt and Rachel made a swift escape out of the building and into Kurt's car, the journey home inevitably very emotional.
Kurt dropped Rachel off outside her house, giving her a reassuring hug "Everything's going to be okay, you know" Kurt told her "We're bound to find at least one dramatic arts school where we're considerably better than everyone else...right?" he added, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "I don't know" Rachel sighed "Maybe we're not as good as we think we are. I mean, we're 'Ohio good' not 'New York good'" tears started to fill her eyes again.
"Hey, listen to me. It will happen for us one day, we will make it to Broadway because not only do we have talent, but we have passion and drive. Rachel, you have been training for a career in the arts for too long now to give it up just as soon as some real competition shows up. So you've gotta promise me that you will never give up, no matter what's thrown at you. Promise?"
"I promise. Thank you Kurt" she replied, giving Kurt an appreciative smile. Kurt returned the smile and made his way back to his car.
"Blaine's lucky, you know, to have you as his boyfriend" Rachel added shyly. Kurt turned around and blushed, his cheeks flaring a bright pink colour "Goodnight Rachel!" he replied, pretending to ignore what she had actually said. Rachel watched as he drove away, and smiled to herself "Goodnight Kurt" she whispered.
The next day, following Kurt's inspirational pep talk, Rachel decided to skip class in order to find a sheet music book for the school musical, 'West Side Story'. Scoring the role of 'Maria' was her main priority at that moment, and she wanted to be one step ahead of all the other auditionees, so she signed out of school for an 'appointment at the dentist's' and walked down to the local music shop. She wore a hat and some dark sunglasses so as not to give herself away, but it didn't work because the looks the other customers gave her caused her to become shifty, so she briskly walked down the aisles with her head down, skimming her eyes over the book titles. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Sound of Music...ah here we go, West Side Story" she mumbled to herself, picking up the book. She quickly flicked through the pages to make sure it had everything she needed for the audition, but she didn't notice the beautiful dark-haired woman standing right beside her with a smile on her face.
"I thought I'd find you here" the woman chuckled to herself, as Rachel looked at her innocently. After realising that it was in fact her mother, Rachel looked away feeling slightly awkward, "What are you doing here?" she asked sheepishly.
"I overheard some other teachers saying that you had gone missing, they called the dentist's to ask if you were there but they said you weren't scheduled for an appointment until next month, so I took the liberty of finding you myself. I may not know Lima that well, but I do know that this is the only music shop here, so I figured that this is where you must be" Shelby explained. Rachel didn't respond and continued to not make eye contact. What the hell is she doing back in Ohio? Rachel thought angrily "Well, I'm flattered that you came to find me, but I really must be going" Rachel said matter-of-factly as she walked forcefully past Shelby. "Rachel, wait!" Shelby called, causing Rachel to sigh heavily. There was no way she was getting out of this one, so she turned around to face her mum. "Could we perhaps, talk things over? I know it's a lot to ask, but...I think it will benefit us both" Shelby pleaded. Rachel pondered the thought for a few seconds before giving in "Fine, I'll meet you at the Lima Bean at 4" she replied, clearly agitated. Rachel paid for the book, left the shop swiftly and returned to school.
When Rachel arrived back at school, lunch had ended and the students were already in their next class which, for Rachel, was Spanish. She stormed through the door five minutes late gaining odd looks from her peers because Rachel Berry was never late for anything, ever, she wasn't even late for her own birth. "Oh my God Rachel where have you been, we thought you'd gone missing!" Mr Schuester exclaimed. "Mr Schue" Rachel said calmly through gritted teeth "can I speak to you outside for a moment please?" Mr Schue sighed, clearly annoyed at the sudden disruption of his lesson.
"Fine, Finn...you're in charge, I'll be back in five minutes" he said reluctantly. He followed Rachel out of the classroom and closed the door. "Did you know about this?" Rachel asked, anger increasing "Well...DID YOU?"She shouted, red flashing across her face.
"Rachel calm down, I don't know what you're talking about" Mr Shue replied quietly.
"Really, you don't know? Well, let's see," she said sarcastically "hmm, might it be that my MOTHER is back in town and no one bothered to tell me?" she exploded. Realisation settled quickly into Mr Schuester's expression, as he looked to the floor guiltily. "Ah, I take it she went looking for you then?" he asked. "She just showed up and started talking to me, expecting me to welcome her back with open arms! I hate how insensitive she can be, just showing up and leaving whenever she feels like it, making and breaking the people around her!" Tears started to fill Rachel's eyes "and now she wants to talk things through? You know, the only reason I agreed was out of politeness!" she cried, crossing her arms tightly. Mr Schuester stayed silent for several seconds after Rachel's rant, just so she could calm down, before he said "Look, Rachel, I know you've been through rough times with your mom, but she's just trying to make things right, mend at least a few of the bridges she's broken. She's not expecting you to love her, or to start calling her 'Mom', or even to forgive her, she just wants to talk to you and get to know you better. Is that really too much to ask?" Rachel knew deep down that he was right, but she was just too afraid to admit it. "I mean, it's your decision whether you actually dogo and meet her but if it was me, I would at least give it a try." he added with a small smile. "Thank you" Rachel said appreciatively,
"No problem" Mr Schuester replied, as they both re-entered the classroom.
Spanish class flew by way too quickly for Rachel's liking. Her stomach had been churning viciously the whole time, and she couldn't speak to anyone very much because it just made the sensation worse. But despite the nerves and the stomach pains, she decided to stay with her decision to meet Shelby. So when the end-of-school bell rung out, Rachel made her way to the coffee shop. She'd never wanted to stay at school so much in her life, she would rather sit through 3 hours of Biology than meet up with her mum, and that was saying something! But she battled through the temptation to turn around and head home and eventually she reached the Lima Bean where, through the window, her mum was waiting patiently. "Well I know who I didn't get my impatience from that's for sure" Rachel muttered to herself as she entered the coffee shop. Shelby beamed when Rachel walked in, who gave her a small smile in return. Rachel walked over and sat down on the chair opposite her mum, who pushed a large cup of coffee towards her. "You know my coffee order?" Rachel questioned, chuckling slightly. "A little bird, who goes by the name of Kurt, told me" Shelby replied, happy to see Rachel relax at the mention of her best friend's name. "So...what did you wanna talk about?" Rachel asked with a bit more confidence in her voice.
"Well, I wanted to get to know you better." Shelby replied, taking a sip of her coffee. Rachel was actually quite flattered by her mother's intentions, not many people had taken that much interest in her for a long time. "Okay, well aside from the arts, I actually really like Math." Rachel answered. Shelby couldn't help but chuckle at Rachel's response, but it didn't go unnoticed as Rachel's face suddenly dropped "Wh-what's so funny?" she spluttered out.
"It's just that I didn't pin you as the Math type of person, you know" Shelby explained, shrugging her shoulders "but I think it's great that you take an interest in something academic" she added. Rachel smiled appreciatively "Very few people know about my academic side, apart from my Math teacher and a couple of really close friends of course." Shelby nodded understandingly. A few more seconds passed before Rachel asked "So how's Beth doing?"
"Fantastic, she's so well-behaved and not to mention extremely cute!" Shelby gushed. And then an idea hit her "Would you like to meet her?" she asked cautiously, wondering if she had over stepped the boundaries a little bit. Rachel processed the question in her head for a few seconds, "Yeah, that'd be nice" she answered cheerfully, at least now Mr Schue can't say I haven't made an effort to bond with my mother she thought whilst gulping down the remains of her coffee. Mother and daughter continued to make small talk for a while longer until Shelby caught a look at the time and realised she was a few minutes late picking up her Beth from day-care. "Oh my God, is that the time? I'm so sorry Rachel but I've gotta go pick up Beth from day-care. Thank you for meeting up with me today, it really means a lot to know you don't despise me that much" she said with a smile. "Yeah, sure, anytime" Rachel replied, feeling slightly awkward "Um, when can I um, come and see Beth?"
"Is Saturday night okay? Then again, you are a teenager so you're probably busy on Saturday night, yeah that would make sense –" Shelby started going off on a tangent until Rachel interjected her "Yeah Saturday's good, I'll come round at about 5pm?"
"I'll see you then" Shelby replied with a huge smile
"Bye...Mom" Rachel said
"Goodbye Rachel" Shelby replied with the widest grin on her face. She couldn't believe the daughter that she had abandoned at birth had just called her 'Mom'; she didn't expect Rachel to be that comfortable around her so soon. Feeling pleased with the progress they'd made, Shelby walked out of the coffee shop and out of Rachel's sight. Rachel sighed heavily, relieved that she'd actually had a decent conversation with her mum; and left the coffee shop. It had grown considerably colder and darker outside within the half hour she spent talking to Shelby, so she reached into her school bag and pulled out a woolly cardigan. But then out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a man quickly darting behind the back of one of the buildings she was standing next to. Usually she would ignore an occurrence such as this, but something in her mind seemed to be telling her that she should follow the figure. So she glanced around quickly to make sure there were other people about that could save her life if this figure happened to be a murderer. She also dug her hand into her pocket and gripped tightly onto her rape whistle, I can't let my guard down she thought as she proceeded cautiously down the alleyway separating the two buildings. Of course Rachel knew better than to creep down an alleyway when it's almost dark out, but if she didn't follow this man she knew it would be on her mind for days. She reached the end of the alleyway where there was a narrow path to the left and a narrow path to the right, but right in front of her was a long stretch of backs of houses, so if this guy really was a murderer and/or rapist, she really wouldn't have many places to escape. Despite these worrying thoughts she made her way down the right narrow pathway, with the houses on her left and the other building on her right. And that's when she saw him. As she turned right to follow an alleyway back onto the main path she had been walking along before, she saw that a tall man with slightly quaffed light brown hair, just like Kurt's, was leaning against a wall of the alleyway, staring at her. She froze, hoping the man hadn't seen her and ran back the way she had come, too frightened to approach the figure. When she walked back out onto the main path, she turned to her left and watched as the man disappeared round the corner by the coffee shop. Because the streets were filled with people walking back from work, Rachel struggled to see what the mysterious figure was wearing. But as he turned the corner, Rachel could clearly see that he was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves bunched up around his elbows. Someone had been watching her and she was determined to find out who it was, no matter how dangerous they might be.
Over the next few days Rachel put all her focus into preparing for her audition for 'West Side Story', practising whenever the opportunity arose. She even skipped some meals so that she could practise. When the day of her audition came, she strode confidently onto the auditorium stage and belted out a beautiful rendition of 'Somewhere'. All of her hard work did pay off though, as the next day the cast list went up and it was revealed that she would be playing the lead role 'Maria'. Of course she was extremely excited, but even more so that she would be starring opposite Blaine Anderson because she still remembered the amazing duet they sang back in February. And although they sung it under the influence of alcohol, it was still a lot of fun. "I look forward to working with you Mr Anderson" Rachel beamed, shaking hands with Blaine who returned the smile
"And I look forward to working with you Ms Berry" he said, as he and Kurt turned and walked off together. And if Rachel hadn't been mistaken, she could've sworn she saw a look of anxiety spread across Kurt's face.
Saturday evening came around soon enough, so Rachel made her way to Shelby's apartment bearing a gift for Beth. She strode up to the entrance and pressed the button for apartment number 10, but jumped at the loud buzz that followed
"Come on up Rachel!" she heard Shelby's voice blast through the small speaker. Rachel made her way up a flight of stairs and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The door opened swiftly to reveal Shelby standing and smiling, wearing an apron "Hey Rachel! Come in, come in!" she beckoned to Rachel before closing the door and jogging back into the kitchen. Rachel took off her obnoxiously yellow coat and swept her eyes across the seemingly luxurious apartment, "Wow" she said sitting down cautiously on the spotless cream sofa "nice place you've got here!" she added, wondering how on Earth a substitute teacher could afford a place like this. "Thanks" Shelby replied, "I'm renting it from a close friend of mine. And of course, because she knows me personally I get it cheaper than it would be to anyone else!" she added cheerfully. "Now I don't suspect that you've eaten already so I've made you dinner" she said, her happy expression dropping when Rachel looked at her worriedly "Crap, sorry I probably should have told you first" she apologised sheepishly.
"No no no, it's okay! I haven't eaten yet, it's just that...well you see I'm...I'm a vegan, so there's a lot I don't eat" Rachel explained quietly.
"Yeah I know, Kurt told me, so I made a vegan pizza! Phew, I thought you'd already eaten. Now that would have been awkward!" Shelby laughed, taking the pizza out of the oven. Rachel went and sat down at the dinner table where she and Shelby had their dinner and talked about what had happened in their lives since they last met. An hour passed and it seemed as if Rachel had forgotten why she was there in the first place, until she spotted a little doll lying next to the kitchen sink. "Oh yeah, when can I see Beth?" she asked politely.
"Oh yes, of course! You can see her right now if you like!" Shelby said immediately, getting up from the table and leading Rachel to the play-area in the corner of the living room. She bent down and lifted Beth up, balancing her on her hip. "Rachel, this is Beth" Shelby said proudly. Rachel could feel tears coming to her eyes. Beth was the most beautiful little girl she had ever laid eyes upon, with her soft blonde hair and her innocent eyes. Rachel smiled and remembered the gift she had brought for her "Hey Beth, I've got a gift for you" she whispered to Beth, walking to her coat and taking the gift out of the pocket. "Look, it's a teddy bear! She said walking back to Shelby. She held out the small beige teddy bear to Beth, who took it delightedly from Rachel and giggled. Seeing how infatuated Beth was by the bear, Shelby put her down in the play-area where Beth continued to play with it. "Thank you Rachel, you didn't have to buy her anything you know" Shelby said appreciatively.
"I know, but...I suppose she is sorta like the sister I never had, so I wanted her to have something to remember me by if you decide to move away from Ohio forever" Rachel replied, with a glint of sadness in her eyes "I'm glad she likes it!" she added cheerfully. Suddenly Rachel's phone beeped, so she took it out of her dress pocket and saw she had a text from Mercedes:
Girl, you seriously need to get yo' ass down here! New Directions' late-night shopping spree? I think yes! We're at the North Avenue shopping mall outside Starbucks. You comin' or what?
"Umm..." Rachel started, not quite sure how to tell Shelby that she wanted to leave.
"Yes Rachel you can go, its fine don't worry!" Shelby said, predicting what Rachel was going to say.
"Are you sure? Thank you so much for dinner, and it was lovely meeting Beth" Rachel gushed as she quickly grabbed her coat and made her way to the door. "No problem, Rachel. I'll see you at school" Shelby smiled "See ya, bye! Goodbye Beth!" Rachel called as she rushed out the door.
"Those kids" Shelby chuckled to herself.
The following Tuesday, Rachel had made arrangements to meet up with Blaine in the auditorium before the official 'West Side Story' rehearsals started, so that they could get a head start. She strode into the auditorium not a minute early, not a minute late, to find Blaine lying face down on the stage. "Nice to see you're already getting into character Blaine, but I thought we'd leave Tony's death scene for another day" Rachel said, pushing him lightly with her foot "come on, get up we have work to do!" she ordered lightly. Blaine just continued to lie there "I am so tired Rachel, can't we just leave it for today" he whined desperately, not even bothering to look at Rachel. Rachel sighed, frustrated "Why are you so tired? I saw you yesterday and you had so much energy you were practically bouncing off the walls!" she exclaimed.
"I was up all night stressing out, I couldn't sleep and I forgot to drink my daily cup of coffee this morning." Blaine mumbled.
"Stressing out about what exactly?" Rachel asked inquisitively, moving closer to Blaine. Blaine sighed deeply and miserably before finally finding enough energy to sit up. There were dark lines under his hazel eyes that were deeply accentuated by the unusual shade of white his face seemed to be sporting that day. "Well...you see...umm...basically Kurt has been a little...off with me recently." Blaine explained
"Off?" Rachel asked
"Yeah, he's become more wary of me and what I'm doing. Like the other day I caught him reading the inbox on my phone, which I didn't really appreciate, and he claimed he was just 'looking out for me' and 'protecting me'. And whenever I bring up West Side Story he always changes the subject really quickly, like he doesn't want to talk about it.' Blaine explained. Rachel could see the anxiety in his eyes so she put her arm around him. "Kurt's probably just a little bitter still after the cast list went up, you know how much he wanted the part of 'Tony'." Rachel said reassuringly. Blaine pondered this thought for a while before pulling Rachel into a tight hug "I suppose. Thanks Rachel, sorry about the rehearsal, maybe we could meet up tomorrow?" Blaine let go of Rachel and smiled apologetically "Yeah, tomorrow sounds good!" Rachel replied. And with that, Blaine got up and left the auditorium. From the top row of auditorium seats, Kurt stared down at the stage in disbelief.
For the next two weeks, Rachel was kept so busy with rehearsals for 'West Side Story' that she had barely spent any time with Finn. So when Saturday came around she invited Finn to her house for the evening. The doorbell rang, causing Rachel to sprint to the door and open it swiftly "Finn!" she exclaimed, pulling him into the house in an instant and kissing him deeply. "Wow, someone's keen!" Finn chuckled, taking his shoes off "I brought 'The Sound of Music' for us to watch, I know how much you love it!" he added.
"Awesome!" Rachel replied with a huge smile, taking Finn by the hand and leading him upstairs to her bedroom. Rachel put the disc into her TV and cuddled up to Finn on her bed. "I'm going to go get a drink, do you want one?" Finn asked, getting up from the bed
"Diet Coke please" Rachel answered "but I'm not going to pause the movie, so be quick!" she ordered light-heartedly. Finn jogged down the stairs and out of the back door to access the garage. But whilst he was unlocking the garage door, he felt someone tug violently at his waist and drag him backwards into the woods behind Rachel's house. The attacker's grip tightened, their nails digging into Finn's sides causing Finn to yelp in pain. Before he knew it he was thrown viciously into a tree with the attacker punching his stomach and his face. One last blow caused Finn to keel over in absolute pain, clutching at his stomach, blood seeping from his battered face. The attacker leaned over Finn, inches away from his face "You know what you are?" the attacker said quietly through gritted teeth "A brick in a brick wall that is standing in my way, preventing me from getting what I want. You know what I've gotta do to that brick wall? Knock it down brick by brick, person by person, one by one. Let that be a warning" The attacker sprinted away, leaving Finn blood-wrenched and alone in the cold dark night.