Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 53rd cycle. Now cycle 54!

"Hold a Hand Out"
(Older) Rachel & Chloe Clarke (OC)
Red series
(need to do a listing ;) But this follows from "Back In The Days Of")

The show choir from Greenwood, Indiana, which included young Chloe Clarke, had placed second in the end. Rachel had firmly believed that they deserved to be win, but she had been overruled by the other judges. Even if they hadn't won the top prize though, looking at them on that stage they all looked so thrilled, it was as good as first place in their hearts, so she could put herself at peace again.

After the trophies had been handed out, the winning choirs were walking off stage. Rachel waited there, and when she spotted the Greenwood group, she stepped forward, finding. "Excuse me, Miss Clarke?" she spoke up, and when Chloe saw her, she gasped.

"Miss Berry…" she looked flustered, as did a lot of her group. "I knew you were here, I just…"

"I'd like to have a word with you, if that's alright?" Rachel smiled.

"Sure, I… Now?" she still sounded breathless.

"If you'd like to change first, I'll be in the hotel bar. I'll tell them to expect you."

As she had walked away, she could hear some of Chloe's group go "You know Rachel Berry?" or "You really did meet her!" and she had to smile.

Ten minutes later, as she sat at her table at the bar, she looked up to find Chloe arguing with the man at the door, who wouldn't let her through. Once she'd caught the girl's eye, she signalled over, and Chloe made the man turn and look. Finally, she was allowed through. "Maybe I should have picked another place," Rachel stood, apologizing.

"No, this is good, I…" Chloe shrugged, still looking dazed to be standing in front of her, talking to her.

"Well then, sit," she indicated the chair across from hers, and they both sat. "Congratulations, by the way," she told her, and it was like she'd forgotten she had just performed that morning. "I would have given you first place," she confided, and Chloe blushed.

"Thank you, this is still more than we could have…" she started, then unable to stop from asking the question on her lips, she sighed. "Why'd you want to talk to me? I-I mean I'm honored, I just… I don't understand…" Rachel held up her hand, and the girl stopped talking all at once.

"I did tell you we'd be seeing each other again," she smiled.

"You remembered that?" Chloe cut in, shocked, then pulled back.

"Of course," Rachel told her, and she could see Chloe try to relax, not seem so frazzled. "So, Indiana?" she asked after a moment, and Chloe looked back to her.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"When I met you the first time, were you visiting someone? Or on a field trip?" Rachel started to ask, and as much as she tried to hide it, she could see a flicker of doubt in the redhead's face, like she'd been made guarded now.

"It's a long story…" she tried to shrug it off.

"I'm in no rush," Rachel promised her, then seeing her hesitation, "Chloe, I want to help you. Whatever's going on, if you want to talk, I am right here. Alright? It stays between us." The girl's eyes turned back up to her, and she looked like she would cry, like her hero had just opened arms to her.

"They didn't want me to come to Nationals at first, my parents," she explained, sniffling back what could have been her breakdown. "They thought if I went then I wouldn't come back… this time." Rachel sat back, understanding now.

"So you ran away?"

"I took the money I had left from my birthday last year, and I got on a bus to New York. I thought that was all I had to do, and then everything would be alright, and I would be happy…" she shook her head. "I stayed in a shelter, and I would try but nothing worked out." She paused, shrinking as a waitress went by. "Then I met you and… what you told me, it really meant a lot and… I went back home."

"I… Well, that's good," Rachel gave her a smile, though she was close to crying as well. "Are you doing alright?" She wanted to ask her why she'd run in the first place, but she could sense even telling what she'd told had been hard and she didn't want to press too hard.

"Once I convinced my family I wasn't going to run again, it got better," she shrugged. "Went back to school, and then…" she smiled, and Rachel understood.

"You joined Glee Club."

"Rejoined," Chloe confirmed. "I don't think I was very good the first time, I mean I wasn't paying attention the way I should. When I went back though, it was like I finally felt like I wanted to be there, and I needed to be there. I wanted to earn my place."

"I think you're doing just that," Rachel told her. "Listen, after I saw you yesterday in the first round, I was very impressed with you."

"You were?" the shy girl returned.

"Yes," Rachel smiled. "And maybe this is just me getting enthusiastic, but I had a thought." Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a sealed envelope. "Now, with what you've told me today, it may change circumstances, but I want you to promise me you'll take this to your parents. My number is in there, you can tell them to contact me and we will discuss some things."

"Discuss… what?" Chloe asked, looking at the envelope Rachel still held.

"There's a workshop I do once a year, I…" she paused, smiling when she saw Chloe already knew about it – of course she would. "It's very limited, but I do try to keep a space or two open in case of… special circumstances. I would very much like it if you would join us. It's over the summer, so you can finish out your school year back in Indiana, and then you would get to spend the summer here with us."

"A-are you serious?" Chloe gasped, and Rachel slid the envelope to her. "Oh my g…"

"I need you to promise me that you'll run this by your parents first, and you won't just take off, okay?"

"I promise," she nodded, looking her in the eye so she could believe her.

"If there's anything going on in your life back home and you feel like you can't talk to anyone, I want you to know that you can talk to me," Rachel went on, and looking at the girl it was hard for her not to think of her own daughter, and how she would have felt if Sophie had run off the way Chloe had. If she could help her, then she would do it, without hesitation.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!