"Hey," Rachel said with a drunken giggle as she sat down next to Blaine in the dirt. The Glee club senior members had planned a going away bonfire their last weekend all in Lima together, which soon turned into a camping trip, and Puck had inevitably brought in alcohol. Rachel hadn't drunk much since her party junior year, but in a matter of days Rachel, Kurt and Blaine were heading for NYC, the others scattered across towns in the midwest, and it was a terribly sad thought for her.

"Hey," Blaine replied distantly a moment later. Rachel looked at him, noticing how he was fiddling with the neck of his beer bottle.

"You okay?" She asked, but he just responded with a smile. She bit her lip before exclaiming "Blaine, cheer up!" loudly. Puck glanced at them as he wandered past to grab another log for the fire but didn't say anything.

"I'm just in a weird mood," Blaine finally responded. "You should be off having fun-after all, after Tuesday you won't see Finn until Thanksgiving."

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Nah. Tina and Mercedes are busy planning their adventures in St. Louis and Finn is probably in the process of getting back together with Quinn as we speak," she answered truthfully. Blaine raised an eyebrow, questioning her last statement non-verbally. "We broke up this afternoon," she finally admitted, grabbing the alcohol from Blaine's hand and taking a giant swig automatically. It was her defense mechanism for the night anytime someone asked about it.

"I'm surprised you're not drunker," Blaine chortled. "Why did you break up now?"

"He says he doesn't want to hold me back. I say he's going to Ohio State with Quinn and just wants the freedom to hook up with her again. But it's all for the best I suppose. Onwards and upwards and all that," she rambled. Blaine was watching her as she talked, he had a tendency to actually appear like he was listening, including staring in her eyes. It was a tad disconcerting after dating Finn off and on for three years, where Rachel was fortunate if he caught a third of what she said.

"Still."

"I'm just so ready to get out, start my real life. And Finn is right-I don't need anyone holding me back." Rachel continued, ignoring Blaine's smirk.

"I'm pretty sure nothing would stop you from being a star."

"Not even love?"

"Not even love."

"I just can't wait to be out of Lima, out of Ohio," Kurt complained, staring wistfully at the campfire. Rachel nodded in agreement while Santana snorted from her position on his other side, wrapping herself tighter in her hoodie.

"Well of course you, Berry and Anderson get your happily ever after," she snarled, throwing a rock into the fire.

"You're going to Chicago," Rachel pointed out. She had sobered up by now, the party hitting it's lull where half the participants were passed out or making out, various couples hidden away in the tents Puck, Mike and Finn spent all afternoon erecting.

"Yeah, by myself," she argued, glancing towards where Brittany was sitting in Artie's lap.

"Better by yourself than miserable in love," Kurt muttered, though Rachel was sure Santana wasn't listening. She had known that Kurt and Blaine were having problems- Blaine's transfer back in the Fall had been wonderful for the couple at first, but when Blaine became reasonably accepted, nabbing solo's away from Finn or Puck in Glee, even spending time with what Kurt had apparently deemed HIS friends, Rachel could see Kurt's resentment settle in. It had taken awhile to settle in, and she didn't want anything to mess up their plans-after all, the three were moving to New York together, and she liked knowing she'd have some friends with her in a large new city.

She didn't call attention to his comment, instead deciding to wander off in an attempt to find a water bottle. She had a couple hidden in what she had already called dibs on as "her" tent, having to pass by what was-from the sound of it-undoubtedly Finn and Quinn's tent.

She stumbled lightly over a rock and almost fell into her own tent, catching herself in enough time to notice that it was zipped up. That's weird, she pondered, she knew she had left it open. She decided someone must have closed it for her, or maybe someone was using it for their own uses-she didn't want to know-instead moving onwards to find a small clearing just past their tents.

It took her a minute to realize she had stumbled upon an argument, her thirst evaporated as she hid herself behind a tree and tried to eavesdrop.

"You're not the same person anymore Blaine," she heard Kurt hiss, her face falling in a frown immediately.

"And that's a bad thing? It's called changing, growing up. Maybe it's something you should consider doing," Blaine shot back.

"I have grown up! Look at everything I've been through!"

"Going through hard times doesn't make you a grown up Kurt, it makes you human. We've all had rocky points and no one else is acting like the world owes them a huge favor," Rachel had to strain her ears, listening intently as Blaine's voice lowered.

"Really? Quinn? Rachel? You're telling me I'm acting worse than them." Kurt replied bitterly.

"Rachel is your friend, I don't see why you always need to attack her. And she doesn't act like the world has been harsh to her. She knows who she is, she's prepared to fight hard for what she wants." A smile crept on her face automatically at Blaine's words, but fell almost as quickly when he continued. "She could be wailing and moaning about how unfair it is that Finn is screwing Quinn in a tent 20 feet from her only hours after she broke up with him, but she's not."

"Because she's at a party with her friends," Kurt stated, but even Rachel could tell he knew he was losing his argument.

"Now, are we going to continue this fight and potentially risk everyone finding out and ruining their nights, or are we going to suck it up, put a smile on our damn faces, and deal with it later?" Rachel didn't hear Kurt's reply as Puck stumbled over to her, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her to him.

"You know," he told her, his mouth close to her ear as he slurred his words. She could smell the whiskey he had been drinking with Mike all night on his breath, but didn't comment. "You're going to be a star someday and I'm going to get to tell everyone that I totally tapped that fine ass."

She giggled despite herself, rolling her eyes at the same time. "We never had sex Noah," she reminded him, and he growled in response.

"Maybe we should fix that," he said, pushing her up against the tree. She laughed but didn't stop him when he started kissing her, figuring that making out with him for a few minutes couldn't possibly harm her night any.

By the time Rachel stumbled back to her tent, she was exhausted and the fire had almost completely dimmed down. Her kissing session with Noah had gone on for awhile before he started attempting to undo her shorts, ending abruptly when he ran off towards the clearing to throw up after she pushed him away. Her tent was still zipped up, but she figured at this point she didn't care as she climbed in.

She stepped on the person in her sleeping bag before she saw them, a low groan of pain almost making her scream in fright. Once her heart beat stopped racing, she sat down to poke the mystery person. "Excuse me," she whispered, aware there were other people sleeping in tents around them. "Excuse me, you're in my tent."

"Just sleep," a voice answered, deep and covered with exhaustion.

"But you're in my sleeping bag," she informed them.

"Room," they responded, shuffling over to allow her room into her own sleeping bag. She hesitated for a moment-almost everyone in the group was dating someone else in the group, and if this was someone's boyfriend-she knew that it was a boy, even if she couldn't place what boy-she didn't want any drama her last couple days in Lima. But she was exhausted and slightly hung over and cuddling seemed like a much warmer idea than sleeping in the cold tent alone.

Sighing, she pushed him over a little more and climbed into the sleeping bag, snuggling tightly against them. One arm wrapped around her, dragging her even closer to him. It wasn't long before she felt her exhaustion win, her partners breathing lulling her into a comfortable sleep.