Be a best friend.
Rachel had started high school without a single friend in the world and ended it with a dozen people who actually cared what happened to her at the end of the day. She was deeply in love with Finn and sometimes thought that he could easily be her best friend in the world. Tina had been there for everything, and she had shared more than one giggled-filled Diva Off with Mercedes over the years. She'd come to love Quinn and Santana and Brittany almost like sisters, a feat unimaginable four years before, and Mike and Puck were just as protective over as they were their own biological siblings. And Blaine, sweet Blaine, he would always be her Tony. However, it was Kurt, with flawless skin and angelic voice and New York ambitions, that understood her best. It was he that became her best friend; it was he who would hold her together when everything fell apart just a few weeks into her arrival to the Big Apple. He had taught her a lot of things over the years but the one of friendship was the most important.
Tell the truth.
"Something happened, Finn," she said vaguely when he showed up in New York. It should have been a great thing, this visit after they'd spent the entire summer apart. She shouldn't have felt guilty because he left. Well, she left, but he made her go. He wasn't that far behind, or so she had thought, but then he had ended up staying in Lima. "I've…there's been someone else."
He looked at her with big, wet eyes, and it was the first time Rachel could remember hating herself in a very long time. She knew that she had just broken his heart, but she loved him too much to given him anything other than the truth. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't lie to you," she sobbed quietly. She tried to reach out for him, but he wouldn't let her touch him. Brody suddenly didn't feel worth it, feel worth this. "I love you, Finn. You have to believe me, I'm so sorry."
Things hadn't really gotten better after that, and he had headed back to Lima without forgiving her. They were officially over, not that they had really been together for months. She didn't answer when Brody called that night for three days after that. She just holed up in the apartment with her favorite musicals and a gallon of vegan ice cream. And Coldplay, she played a lot of Coldplay.
And overuse "I love you."
She'd always been someone that was really in touch with her emotions, and Rachel knew that she had the habit of smothering the people around her. She had constantly walked that fine line when she was with Finn. Kurt was a little more at her level and didn't mind sharing every little thing that happened. Santana, however, was much different. She didn't like to talk about her emotions.
Rachel didn't really ask too many questions when the Latina showed up on their doorstep seeking shelter after the sing-off with Sam back in Lima. She had just offered up her couch and found her some Chinese leftovers in the fridge before heading off to bed. Santana never really offered up any explanation either, just sort of announced that she was staying even if Rachel and Kurt didn't want her to. Kurt tried in vain to argue but Rachel knew it was fruitless. In fact, she didn't really try to delve into what was going on until after she caught Santana crying one afternoon.
"She chose him and I loved her the best way I knew how and it still wasn't good enough."
Rachel quickly understood that Brittany had chosen Sam despite anything Santana might have said, and a secretly insecure girl like Santana was left feeling like she wasn't good enough. She didn't really have the words to make it alright. There was nothing she could say or do that would make this truly okay. Instead, Rachel climbed onto the couch next to Santana and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I love you, Santana," she whispered, "and Brittany does too. It was good enough. You are good enough."
It's something Rachel ends up saying a lot Santana's first year in New York.
Go to work.
Mercedes called Rachel late one night when she was in Los Angeles working on her album, just a few weeks before she would in Lima working with Mike on the music video. "What if I'm not good enough?" she asked worriedly over the line. "Don't tell Kurt I said that."
She giggled in response at her friend's temporary panic. They shared a lot more things than just memories of a winning Glee team; they shared a passion for music and an awesome best friend. They also both shared an insecurity about his harsh criticism. "You are good enough. You're the only one who has out sung me, right?"
"Yeah, I should have been Maria, huh?" Mercedes teased her. "Seriously, Rach, I'm scared. This is, like, everything I've ever wanted. What if no one likes it?"
"Mercedes, you have worked hard," Rachel insisted. "You have put everything into making this album show the world exactly who you are. You are the consummate diva. Even I have something to learn from you. The world is going to fall in love with your voice, just like we all did. You keep working hard and I know that it's going to be amazing because you are amazing."
"Thanks, girl," she replied softly before taking a deep breath. "So tell me about this Adam guy Kurt's been talking about…"
Do your best.
Rachel picked up the phone to call Tina three weeks before Regionals. It was the Asian's first (and only) year as Glee's female lead, and she knew from personal experience the kind of pressure that could put on someone. However, as soon as she started to dial the number, Rachel had this moment where she knew it wasn't the right thing. Tina could handle this. In order to truly be the lead, she needed to be allowed to do this her own way.
Instead, Rachel opened her laptop and headed over to the website for her favorite Lima florist. Twenty minutes later, she had found the perfect bouquet and had them scheduled to arrive to the dressing room just before show time. She fussed over writing the perfect note before coming up with three words that pretty much summed up everything: Do your best.
Rachel was the first person Tina called after everything was over. "We did it, Rachel! We won!"
Don't outsmart your common sense.
"Rachie, Sam and I are getting married!"
"You're what, Britt?"
"We're getting married," Sam answered over the phone. "The world is going to end in a few days, so we decided we wanted to spend the rest of the time we have left together. I proposed with a ring and everything. Coach Beiste is going to marry us in an official Mayan wedding. We know you have finals and won't be able to make it back to Ohio in time, but we're still calling everyone to tell them."
Rachel felt relief wash over her as she realized that their wedding was anything but official. Still, she admired their innocent view of love and marriage. Maybe if she had Brittany's way of looking at the world, she would still be with Finn. "I'm sorry I won't be there. Where are you registered? I'll have to send you a gift."
"Duh, Rachie, we didn't register," Brittany laughed. "The world's ending, remember?"
Well, there is no arguing with logic. "Of course, Britt," she retorted. "So tell me about your dress."
Never let your prayin' knees get lazy.
Rachel flew to Chicago like everyone else when they got the news. There had been an accident, a wet stage or something, and Mike Chang had shattered his knee. She got in somewhere after 2, unable to catch the earlier flight with Santana and Kurt because of a final. Rachel knew the hospital probably wouldn't let her in to see him since visiting hours were long over, but she decided to head by the hospital anyhow. She was only a little surprised when she found Quinn alone at his bedside, holding his hands with her head bent over.
"Quinn?" The blonde looked up and smiled at her friend and former enemy. "What are you doing?"
"Just praying," she answered. "He hasn't been awake yet, has no idea what even happened after the surgery. The doctors said he'd probably wake up in the morning. They wanted his body to have a little time to get stable before he finds out the results."
"Which are?"
"Undecided. It's going to take a lot of therapy if he wants to dance again, but if anyone can make it back to that stage, it's Michael Chang," Quinn said affectionately. Rachel had never known the two of them to be particularly close, but she could tell that Quinn respected the dancer. They all did, with his eternal patience and amazing grace. "Do you…do you want to pray with me?"
"Mike's a Buddhist."
"And I'm a Christian and you're Jewish, but I figure a prayer is a prayer, and Mike can use as many of them as he can get right now," Quinn explained. She reached down and folded Rachel's little hand in hers. Quinn was right. It didn't really matter which words they said, they all had the same intent and meaning.
And love like crazy.
Rachel left New York a very different person than she had she had come. She had still been Finn's girlfriend when she arrived, a name she had worn proudly but had to admit had let her lose a little bit of her identity. She had been okay with that as long as he had been Rachel's boyfriend and half of the Glee power couple. However, time and distance had shown her that maybe that wasn't the best thing if she wanted to grow beyond Lima. Some things were meant for high school and sad as it made her, maybe Finchel was one of them.
Her freshman year of college had taught her many important lessons, and she had thrived on living in the city. She had her first supporting role on Broadway under her belt. She had her first illicit affair. She had gotten over Finn and survived a year with Kurt and Santana under one very small roof and had allowed herself to be okay with not always be the best in a room. She had done all these things and she had survived it all with the same smile on her face and gold stars in her eyes.
She was thinking about how hard it had been to leave last summer when she pulled into the station in Lima. Saying goodbye to her friends and Finn on the platform had been one of the hardest moments of her life, but somewhere along the way, it had also turned out to be one of the best. It had changed her instantly, and without it, she wasn't sure she would have been ready for New York. It made her grow up right then and there, and sometimes when she thought back about looking at them in through the window, she doesn't just see them waving or Finn running along. She saw fingertips tracing a heart and the virtual radio silence they'd had in the months since.
And she probably should have been more shocked when he was waiting for her that warm May evening when she stepped off the train with her stupid little pink suitcase rolling behind her. But Rachel isn't at all surprised to see Noah waiting for her, hands in his pockets and his freshly shaved head tucked to his chest. They don't say much when he reaches for the trolley bag and leads her out to his truck. He doesn't say anything when she slides across the bench seat to press her hand to his thigh while he drives and she doesn't say anything when his free arm finds a natural home around her shoulders when they end up in the empty parking lot at McKinley.
"How'd you know I was coming home tonight?"
"Satan called," he shrugged. "Said your dads were out of town and that you were gonna grab a cab."
"So you just showed up?"
"Where I belonged," he replied without much thought. "I always show up."
Rachel had flashes of memories of all the times he had just sort of appeared when she needed him, almost as if he was ready to pop out at any moment and play her personal superhero. "Yeah," she whispered before letting her eyes settle on the stars through his dirty windshield. "What are you doing this summer, Noah?"
He muttered noncommittally and lifted his left shoulder up in a weak shrug. "Dunno, what are we doing, Berry?"
"I don't know, Noah, but we'll figure it out."
And three months later, the only thing either of them had figured out was that Puck loved Rachel and that Rachel was going to have to sacrifice part of her closet to make room for Noah's clothes.
FIN.
Lyrics credit to Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy."
