a/n: alright, so i have taken on the 30 days of writing: a drabble a day challenge over on tumblr. each day for the next thirty days, i'm going to try to write, well, a drabble a day using the thirty prompts given, and i'm focusing on making them glee drabbles. i may start an original drabble collection over on my fictionpress account, but perhaps not, so don't get your hopes up. and that's all i have to say. thanks for reading, leave a review if you can! :)

beginning

rachel berry

It's a bit of a blur how she got here, standing in the street, dressed in hot pink and toting a suitcase around.

She always knew she was going to end up here, the city of dreams – from the moment her dads bought her those tap shoes and an Annie CD, her path was paved, straight out of Lima and off to bigger, better things.

She's just not entirely sure how it happened. Why it happened like this.

Because a few hours ago she was getting married, with her dress all ironed and pressed waiting for her at the chapel and Finn by her side with those random freckles on his neck and that goofy grin of his that always makes her insides bubble up. A few hours ago she was going to be Mrs. Rachel Barbra Hudson, and now she's staring up at the skyscrapers and people are shoving past her without batting an eye.

And she's not entirely sure what she's feeling right now, or what she should be feeling, because every emotion is fighting for attention inside her head – because she's here in New York City with her NYADA letter tucked securely in her jacket pocket, but Finn's back in Lima still wearing his suit and Kurt's there too with nothing more than an over-gelled boyfriend and a rejection letter and it makes Rachel's heart seize up and she's not sure whether to be happy or sad or angry or what.

And then she's thinking about Quinn – she's not sure why she does, but she just does, okay – and she frantically feels inside her other pocket for the metropass Quinn gave her and when her fingers find it she clutches it like a lifeline. In a way it is, because of all her friends Quinn will be the closest and Rachel will definitely take advantage of that as often as possible. New York can be lonely.

She tilts her head up, lets the soft glow of the sun rest on her skin, and she breathes. And she smiles. It's sad and it's twisted, but it's a smile. It's a start. A beginning.

She bites her bottom lip and drags her suitcase along behind her.