Hi, Puckleberry fandom! I started writing this before "Goodbye" aired, so it's AU from that point forward. In this fic, Kurt and Rachel get into NYADA and Finn gets into Pace (no idea how, but I was operating under the assumption that he would, to make things easy). Besides these issues, I try to stick as close to canon as possible.

Since we're faced with the long summer hiatus with no new episodes, and probably no more Puckleberry to look forward to in September, I thought it'd be nice to write a full-on Puckleberry story. This is totally different from anything I've ever done (in this or any other fandom) and I hope you'll enjoy the journey I take these characters on—it's been a blast to write and I'm really excited about it! I did a little bit of research about Broadway and New York and such but I probably got a lot wrong—chalk it up to artistic license, okay?

And just FYI, the chapters get longer after this one. This is more of a prologue to start us off.

Enjoy!

-Brandi

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be affiliated with the television show Glee nor do I claim to have any ownership over its copyright. I am simply borrowing the characters for some extracurricular activities and will return them, unharmed, to their rightful owners when this fic is over.

Chapter 1: Into the Void

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next."

—Gilda Radner

Graduation. The day Rachel had been looking forward to for four long years. The day that finally meant she could get the heck out of Lima and make something of herself. The day that meant she and Finn could truly start their life together.

The seniors were lined up alphabetically in their caps and gowns, ready to head into the auditorium. She looked around at her classmates and was pleased that for once, the tears streaming down her face weren't out of place.

Finn broke his spot in line to stand next to her. "How are you feeling?" he leaned down to ask.

"Excited. Sad. I don't know." She smiled up at him through her tears, and he smiled back. "How are you holding up?"

He shrugged. "Same."

They were quiet for a moment. Finn opened his mouth and began to say something else, but Rachel couldn't hear him due to a sudden rushing in her ears.

"What? Finn, I can't—" Suddenly her vision went black. She reached her hands out to touch him, to tell him that something was terribly wrong, but the rushing in her ears was so loud she couldn't think straight. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, but everything was still pitch black.

"Finn!" she screamed as the ground was ripped out from under her, and suddenly she was falling, down, down, surrounded by blackness and the incessant whistling in her ears. She closed her eyes.