Ok so this is a very (very) short Glee ficlet about Rachel. I know we're all past this point in the plot of Glee but I started this right after the Regionals episode and procrastinated finishing it or doing anything with it until now so... ya. I know it's really sappy and corny but who cares lol. I love how Rachel's character has progressed since the start of the show and I loved the Regional's episode. So here it is, enjoy =)
It had been a week since regionals and Rachel had gone to bed with a smile on her face every night of that week. She looked over at her shelf of trophies and smiled at the small plastic gold star one that had a special place right in the middle of the shelf. That little trophy that Mr. Shoe had probably bought at the Dollar Store meant so much more to her than any of her other trophies. This trophy didn't just represent excellence or achievement, it represented friendship and being accepted. When Rachel looked at that little trophy she couldn't help but feel loved and wanted. These people didn't just like her for her talent, they liked her for herself. Well except for Santana and Quinn but they tolerated her now for the most part. When Glee club started she had had no friends and she had been slushied nearly every day. Now if she wanted to hang out with someone she had several numbers in her phone she could call; Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Britt, Artie, you get the point.
Ok, so she didn't have Finn back, yet, but when she looked at her trophy and thought about her friends she didn't feel like it was the end of the world. Her dads had noticed the change too. Rachel had become less harsh and attention seeking. She still had that ambition and that my way or the highway attitude but now she had friends who could lovingly keep her in check and sometimes she didn't even mind stepping out of the spotlight for a minute so someone else could get a turn. But only for a minute.
Yes, Rachel had won more than just another competition that day, she had won respect, and love, and family, and that was worth more than ten 1st place trophies in her book.