BEFORE SHE WAS FAMOUS

I'm a totally Faberry geek, in a slightly obsessive way. So this will be a Faberry story. Eventually. This is also the biggest piece of writing i've took on in a long time and i'd appreciate any feedback i can get. Thanks mucho!

Chapter One

Rachel Berry became everything she ever said she would be. It should not have surprised any of the people back in Ohio, it certainly hadn't shocked Mr Schue and her old glee club members. Her fathers told every person they met that they had always known their little girl was destined for greatness. The only person from Rachel's whole life that still couldn't believe she got to be the big star, with her name up in lights, movies, book deals and enough awards to constitute being called an industry legend was Rachel herself. She still woke up in her New York penthouse apartment every morning thinking she was that bright eyed eighteen year old, heading for the adventure of a lifetime to the big city.

That had been almost forty years ago. Forty years of glitz and glamour, parties, award ceremonies, fighting for roles in the beginning of her career, changing the way the industry viewed what was considered beautiful, changing the way little girls thought about themselves and what they could achieve if they just dreamed big enough. It was everything she had ever wanted in her life. Yet here she sat, in a tiny studio with just a camera in front of her and an interviewer to her right and she was possibly the most nervous she had ever been in her career. Because what she was about to do was so much more than she had ever dreamed of doing, so much more than she ever thought her life could be and so much more important than any of the roles or awards or parties. This was her life she was giving up to the world, the life she had always held so close to herself and never let the public in to. She was offering up her heart and soul at the age of fifty seven and she was terrified. She was the little girl about to go out on her own singing "Don't Rain On My Parade" on a wing and a prayer. Only multiplied by a thousand.

The journalist looked over at her with a small smile and asked if she was ready to start, sensing Rachel's nervousness and trying to put her at ease. Inhale, hold, hold, exhale.

"Yeah. Yes, Definitely." The interviewer motioned to the cameraman to begin, letting him count her in. She clasped her fidgeting hands into her lap, took one more calming breathe and placed that Rachel Berry smile on her face; the one that spread to her eyes the first time Finn told her he loved her, when they won regionals for the first time, when she sang with Kurt at the Gershwin and realised they would always be in each other's lives, when Quinn had said they were kind of friends in the principals office all those years ago. The smile was still there. Sure there were a few lines around her eyes, surrounding her lips but that smile? In those eyes? It still shone with the same hopefulness that it had all those years ago back in Ohio.

"Good evening and welcome to the show, we have a very special guest with us tonight. A true Hollywood and Broadway legend, she has wowed the critics and audiences alike for decades and tonight she is here to talk to us about her latest venture as an author. Rachel Berry," the woman turns away from the camera and gives her a courteous nod, " it's a pleasure to have you here."

"Well it's a pleasure to be here Barbara, thanks for having me." She gave off the standard reply, still trying to calm her nerves somewhat, placing her hands to her leg to still the nervous bouncing. "I'm a little nervous to be honest with you" she added with a laugh.

"After all these years in the media are nerves still something you have to deal with?"

"Well, as you know, my whole media relationship has always been about my career. What film I was currently starring in, what role i was rumoured to be taking on Broadway, who designed the dress I was wearing. I've always kept my private life… well, private."

"So what changed?" asked Barbara, seemingly genuinely intrigued.

"It seems like its this big mystery in the industry about who I am away from a camera or an audience and today that changes. After all these years I've finally realised that I've got a story to tell. Not some gossip rag speculating about which leading man I'm with or if I was making outrageous backstage demands at a show, which I've never done by the way."

The two women share a laugh. Every powerful woman in the industry had been called a diva at some point in their lives, its just how the media game worked unfortunately. The woman reached across to the table sat between them and lifted a copy of the book to face the camera. It was a great cover, Rachel had demanded it. The photo was a black silhouette of a twenty year old Rachel on her knees, head bowed, exhausted with spotlights streaming down around her.

"It's a great cover, would you mind telling us the story behind it?"

"It was taken by a great friend of mine whilst I was on stage in central park at a college show for upcoming stars. I never give anything less than my best and that day was no different. I performed until my legs literally gave out. I gave my whole body and soul to that day and it made me famous." She smiled fondly at the memories of the madness that ensued in the following days. "Videos of that performance going viral, calls to NYADA asking who the hell this girl with the big nose and the bigger voice was and when could they book me. It was the day my career took off and I've never wanted to forget that moment when I was literally brought to my knees and how hard I had worked, what I had physically put my body through to get to where I am now. That was why THIS photo had to be on my book. My career had truly began that day, but this book is about how I got there, why I got there and most importantly who helped get me there."

"So you could say that this book is almost the making of a star?"

"Well I prefer to think of it as one of those E True Hollywood story type things. Before they were famous. Only mine is actually accurate and I can control the amount of embarrassing pictures in there. But yes, you could say that a large section of the book is devoted to that part of my life, because that is the time in my life that shaped who I am, who I have always been."

"So you could say that the events that you talk about in the first half of the book are essentially what makes Rachel Berry tick, what lies beneath the star?"

"Precisely Barbara. This is just Rachel Berry laid bare and that is what scares me. You've read the book, surely you understand my trepidation?" The woman leans forward, sensing the star's unease and places her hands over the slightly shaking ones in the brunettes lap.

"I certainly have and can I just say before we talk about any specifics what a genuinely beautiful book you've created. It's insightful and brutally honest. Truly a beautiful story that is at times heart-breaking and others hilarious. It's very brave of you to put this out into the world"

"Well thank you that means a lot," she lifts her gaze and blinks away a tear that had almost escaped. Inhaling deeply, she regains her composure in a flash. "Right! Where would you like to start?" She pauses for a moment, that playful glint in her eye before she adds "From the top?"

"Of course Miss Berry."

"It all begins with a beautiful blonde girl, every high school has one you know, who just wanted somebody to love her..."