A/N: This was sort of insprired by something Northstar said in the A/N of the latest chapter of her story Someone to Love You about how Rachel seemed like a shadow of her former self. This is a different take on the bathroom scene with Quinn and Rachel. Faberry friendship, St. Berry and Klaine ending :)

Basically, the time line is the initial conversation takes place in January, and college starts in August. Also, Blaine is the same age as Kurt and Rachel, not a year younger. I hope you all like it, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Therefore, I must have Finchel shoved down my throat at every possible opportunity. If I did own it, Finn would be non-existant, St. Berry would still be intact and Blaine wouldn't be a junior.

"So what do you think I should do?"

Quinn was started out of her thoughts by Rachel's voice. She suddenly remembered that she was in the bathroom talking to Rachel, who was asking her advice on whether or not to accept Finn's proposal.

"Are you seriously asking me this, Rachel?" Quinn asked finally

Rachel tucked some of her hair behind her ear and then asked, "What do you mean? I needed some advice, and you're the person most likely to give me a straight answer."

"I'll give you an answer, but I'm warning you, you won't like it, but someone needs to knock some sense into you."

When Rachel just stood there, still looking confused, Quinn sighed in frustration and then walked behind Rachel, turning her to face the mirror.

"Why am I looking in a mirror? How will this help me with my answer to Finn?" Rachel asked

"Look at yourself. I don't even know who you are anymore. Finn has turned you into this insecure little girl. Where's the Rachel Berry that saved our asses at our first Sectionals competition? If it hadn't been for you, we would have lost that day. I know a lot of people; yourself included I have a feeling, think that Finn as the real hero that day. He may have given us our second song, but I know you could have come up with a better one had we given you the chance."

"I don't understand," Rachel continued as Quinn held her firmly in place, "Finn has been very supportive. He understands me. He's the one, I know he is."

"Will you listen to yourself? Finn has reduced your self-confidence to almost nothing. You think you'd be nothing without his support, that you wouldn't have accomplished half of the things you did without him. The Rachel Berry from two years ago didn't need anyone to tell her she could accomplish great things. She just knew it. If you stay with Finn, he's going to somehow convince you that giving up your New York dream is a good idea, that staying in Lima while he runs Burt's shop is what you really want. You'll be Rachel Hudson, wife of Finn Hudson. You won't be Rachel Berry, Broadway star. Is that what you want, Rachel?"

"Finn said he'd come to New York with me."

"And do what exactly? Be your support? Hold your hand before every audition? Don't you want to be able to hang out with your cast mates, make new friends, explore a new city without someone weighing you down?"

"Just because independence is your choice doesn't mean it's for everyone."

Having heard enough, Quinn turned Rachel around and literally shook her.

"Wake up, Rachel! Finn will never leave Lima. He's comfortable here. Leaving here would mean too many unknowns for him. He'd be a nobody, and you and I both know he doesn't handle that status well. So he found out some pretty bad stuff about his dad, he'll live, he'll get over it. It doesn't mean he should try to hang onto you by proposing to you. If you don't let him go, you're going to regret it. Maybe not now, maybe not next year, but at some point you will regret it. You're going to look back on your life and wonder how the hell you got yourself into this mess. Do you want that?"

"No." Rachel said quietly

"What do you want Rachel?"

"I want to go to New York, but I also want a chance to be in a relationship where someone loves me for me and who supports me in my dreams." Rachel answered

"Finn isn't that guy. He may claim that he loves you, but he wouldn't know love if it hit him in the head. Sure, he loves his Mom, and he may even love Burt and Kurt, but the kind of love you're talking about? He'll never be capable of feeling that. He doesn't feel things in the same passionate way that you do. Or at least the passionate way that you used to feel them."

"I'm not the same person I was two years ago! You aren't either!" Rachel said, getting tired of Quinn yelling at her

"I never said you had to be!" Quinn snapped, "I'm just saying that you're a shadow of the person you used to be. I don't even recognize you anymore. I think it's great that you think you've matured, and you probably have, but being mature doesn't mean giving up on who you are. You learn from your mistakes, and if they knock you on your ass, you get right back up and try again. You taught me that, at least the old you did. You wanted an honest, straight answer. Dump Finn. Get on the first flight out of here with Kurt and Blaine. Go be the Broadway star we both know you want to be. Take time to concentrate on yourself. Finn is not the guy for you. He's not the one. He's not the soul mate you so badly want him to be."

"Like Finn would leave me alone if I said that's what I wanted." Rachel muttered after a couple minutes of silence

Quinn offered Rachel an almost sad smile, "I know. He's nothing if not persistent. I thought I loved Finn at one point, so I understand to some extent, but I really think you need to take some time for yourself. You got into both NYADA and Tisch. Not just anybody can do that."

Rachel nodded, watching as Quinn made her way towards the door.

"Quinn." Rachel said, walking over to the girl she wouldn't quite consider a friend, but wouldn't consider an enemy either

"Yes, Rachel?" Quinn asked, readjusting her bag on her shoulder

The action caused Rachel to flashback to a scene in the hallway by her locker, with Jesse and Finn, shortly after Jesse had transferred for her.

Jesse

Rachel thought it before she could help herself, shocked by it. She had tried to forget the boy she at one point thought was the love of her life.

"Rachel? Did you need something else? We need to get going to Glee club rehearsal." Quinn said, waving a hand in front of Rachel's face

"Sorry," Rachel said with a shake of her head, "I just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the honesty."

"Anytime. Who knows, maybe we'll even keep in touch after we leave this place." Quinn answered with a small smile

"Maybe." Rachel said to herself, following the former head Cheerio out into the hallway

Eight months later…

"Rachel, stop fidgeting!" Kurt exclaimed, taking his best friend's hands in his as they stopped in their walk to the first class of their college careers

"I'm nervous! Give me a break!" Rachel said in frustration, looking to Blaine for help

"I think you look very pretty, Rachel." Blaine said with a smile

"See? I told you!" Kurt said

"The skirt isn't too short? My hair looks okay?" Rachel asked

Kurt sighed. He'd heard these same questions all of yesterday, and again this morning before they left their apartment.

"I told you, letting the bangs grow back out was a good idea, and the skirt is classic Rachel Berry. Now stop or we'll be late for class, and then I won't give you your surprise." Kurt said, looping his arm through Rachel's and beginning to walk again, Blaine falling into step beside them, a bemused smile on his face

"Why can't I have my surprise before class starts?" Rachel asked

"Because your surprise has class until 2." Blaine answered from the other side of Kurt

"My surprise is a person?" Rachel asked

"No, it's a dog." Kurt said sarcastically, "Really, Rachel. I thought we were working on the whole obvious question thing."

"You know this is going to bother me all day, I won't be able to concentrate."

"Good thing we have all of the same classes, at the same times, so Blaine and I will be there to help you concentrate. Besides, it's the first day, it's mostly introducing yourself and getting told that college is not like high school."

Rachel sighed, realizing she wasn't getting an answer out of either boy.

Later that afternoon, after finding the on-campus coffee house, Rachel was sitting with Kurt and Blaine, and was about to get up to order another soy latte when she saw one be put on the table in front of her and was almost overwhelmed by the mixture of smells that could only belong to one person. She looked up into the blue eyes of the boy she wasn't sure she'd ever seen again.

"Jesse." Rachel said, unable to say anything else

"Surprise." Kurt said from across the table, smile firmly in place

"Jesse," Rachel tried again, "What are you doing here?"

"I transferred last year. I want to be on Broadway, so New York is the place to be. UCLA wasn't a good fit." Jesse answered, taking the seat next to Rachel

"Did Kurt call you?"

"Yes, but Quinn called first actually. She said something about an intervention and that if you weren't in New York by the end of the summer; I was to come get you myself. Which I would have, regardless of whether you were single or not."

"She beat me to it." Kurt put in from the other side of the table

"I don't understand." Rachel said, turning her head to look at Kurt and then Jesse

"Seriously Rachel? What did we talk about in regards to obvious things?"

"What he means is that I want another chance to get to know you." Jesse answered

"You already know who I am."

"I did at one point. I'm not going to lie to you, Rach, what happened last year hurt. A lot. But we've both hurt each other, we were young and stupid. Now we're both in New York, away from rival show choirs, away from a jealous, insecure ex who wouldn't let you go. I know you dumped Hudson months ago, that you took Quinn's advice, and took some time for yourself. That light is back in your eyes, it wasn't there when I came back your junior year. Best of all, you aren't wearing that god-forsaken leash anymore."

"What if I said that the girl you knew two years ago is basically just a younger version of the person I am now? That I don't want to be friends?" Rachel asked, voice serious but eyes dancing

"I'd ask you out on a date." Jesse answered

"What are you waiting for then, St. James?"

Jesse grinned at her and then asked, "How's Friday night?"

Rachel turned in her seat to wrap her arms around Jesse's neck and grin back at him, "Perfect."

None of the four people at the table that day were at all surprised at the fact that when Rachel leaned over to kiss his cheek, Jesse turned his head and caught her lips with his, or when after recovering from the surprise, Rachel returned the kiss.

The newly reunited couple didn't notice when Kurt took a picture of them, or when he quickly sent the picture to their former classmate, and one of Kurt's co-conspirators, a girl who was currently getting her own fresh start in New Haven, with the caption St. Berry is back.

"Okay, love birds, you two can create your own little world later. I propose a toast." Kurt said, effectively getting the attention of both Rachel and Jesse

"It's coffee Kurt, not champagne." Rachel said

"I don't care. Coffee will work." Kurt answered

"What's the toast?" Blaine asked

"To the Klaine and St. Berry, together in New York City, where we all belong."

"Ooh, I like that one." Rachel said, picking up the coffee Jesse had set in front of her

Jesse chuckled, wrapping an arm around Rachel's chair and lifting his coffee cup to meet the ones of Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel already in the air.

"So, what do you think of Tisch?" Jesse asked, looking at Rachel but directing the question to Kurt and Blaine as well

As Kurt and Blaine took turns talking with Jesse, Rachel smiled to herself, silently reminding herself to call and thank Quinn later. If she hadn't given her the push she didn't know she needed, she may not be here with Kurt and Blaine right now. Most of all, she might not have Jesse back in her life. However sudden their reuniting may seem, she was quite certain that it was supposed to happen exactly how it did. Jesse had promised her epic romance, and she had no doubt he'd make good on that promise. She wasn't sure what the future held, but for now, though, she was perfectly content to sit in a coffee shop, her two best friends across from her, and the boy who loved her for exactly who she was sitting next to her.