STOP!
Before you read this one shot, I really - really need each and every one of you to read this author's note.

I'm going to start first and foremost, by apologizing. I know the content of this one shot is going to hurt. Given the reception a certain storyline has received in the last few weeks, especially last night, I understand that his is going to be hard to read. That being said, this very topic and idea has been weighing on my head long before season six even began. It just took last night's episode to be the catalyst for me putting my fingers to the keyboard and making something of it.

Before you read this, something needs to be clarified. I am, not was, a fan of Cory Monteith. That fan appreciation became even more real after his unfortunate passing. As with everyone else, his passing hurt. It still stings when I think about it sometimes but I feel like I have come to the very crucial stage called acceptance. I've come to accept that he lost his battle with his addiction and that life will and is going on without him. I don't begrudge Lea the fact that she has found another love with Matthew, in fact I have tried to keep that as my example. Do I believe she has forgotten him? Not in the least. If we haven't, how could she? I believe the same for Rachel. Do I agree with how the writers are handling the missing piece in the last season? No. But I do believe and hope something is coming. It has to be. Because Finn, and by extension Cory, was glee.

This story, this oneshot at best, is what I believe is Rachel's path. I like the idea of her having a happy ending because above else she deserves it. Is it the happy ending all of us wanted when we got hooked on this show? No. But that ending, that dream is no longer a reality. Even though that hurts and stings. I want, as a fan, to see things end well. I want closure and I hope against hope that the writers of glee will give us that.

All of that aside, if you don't wish to read this that's okay. I understand that the topic of Rachel moving on is touchy and hard for some. I appreciate you even sitting through this embarrassingly long author's note. But for those of you who do read this, I hope you like it. It feels good to finally put the words to the page and get this out. I encourage you to review, but I will not tolerate hate. Am I the best writer out there? Not even close. But I worked hard on this, and my anxiety is high enough publishing this. If you choose not to review, that's okay too. I understand 100%.

I do not expect to profit from this, nor do I own any glee characters who appear in the following 2,000 words. I also do not own the title, or the lyrics that appear in the synopsis or at the beginning and end of this. Those, respectively belong to Kelly Clarkson.
I have to thank Lauren, who I've had one hell of a conversation with last night about glee, Finn, Rachel, Cory and Lea, for reading this and making sure it wasn't a complete and utter mess. Thank you darling, I appreciate it so much.

That being said, on with the show.

The Sun Will Rise.

"I've been in stuck in a storm before, felt the wind raging at my door, couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't find a way out"

It took her a good five minutes before she turned the key in the ignition of her rental car to turn it off. She took a deep, cleansing breath as she finally turned it off. She was nervous, there was no doubt about that. For what reason, she wasn't sure but the quick acceleration of her heart, the sweat on her palms and blood pumping in her ears was enough to reassure her that she was nervous.

The cool metal of the band around her finger was the only thing that reassured her that she was doing the right thing. It was a simple ring, with a silver band and a small, circular diamond in the middle. It was perfect and light.
But also heavy.
The ring represented something in itself, something that she wasn't sure she had been ready for. But that something, that person had saved her.
He had come into her life at the exact moment that she had needed him. Everything had been dark and grey and gloomy until he came along and took one look at her and slowly but surely picked up every piece, every shard of her broken heart and put her back together.
Kind of like Humpty Dumpty.
She had been alone, so incredibly alone and scared. Her world had been crumbling around her and everything she had come to know and love had burst into flames. Until he found her.

Her cell phone buzzed on the seat beside her and she blinked before she reached over to check the message.
You are strong, you are brave and I'm so proud of you. Xoxo.
She smiled at the message before typing out a quick response and finally exiting the car.

She stood on the walkway that led up to the small porch for a few minutes, just staring up at the front door. Flashes of all the times she had walked these steps, ran these steps flooded her mind. This had been her second home for as long as she could remember. The family behind it, her family. But as she stood there she wondered about where her place was in that hierarchy, now that things were different.

She moved just then, something guiding her up to the front door, forcing her to raise her right hand and knock on the painted wood. She chewed her lip as she waited for someone to answer the door. She had a brief thought that maybe she should have called first, but it was too late to think like that now.

The door opens before she can think another thought, and standing in front of her is the reason she's come. The reason she jumped on a plane in what to some seemed like a hurried moment. But to others, those close, it wasn't quite as random as it seemed.

"Rachel?" Her name is quiet, falling from the older woman's lips as she looked at her quizzically. "Come in."

She stepped into the house and immediately felt at peace. The older woman offered to take her jacket and Rachel smiled, shrugging off the tan material and handing it to her. "Thank you."

She got a nod in return, before the woman turned away and led her into the kitchen.

They sat the table neither of them speaking. Rachel stared down at the worn table top, tracing the grooves and marks in the table. She kept her left hand in her lap, the ring around her finger feeling heavier than ever, almost burning her skin from the weight. She was suddenly at a loss for words and she almost wished that she had brought her cell phone inside with her instead of leaving it on the passenger seat. Her bravado was gone, and she wasn't sure where her voice had gone either. She wasn't sure where to start. She didn't know where to begin.

But the older woman beat her to it, breaking the silence that had encompassed them.

"It's been a long time Rachel," she whispered as she moved her hand across the table and placed it over hers. Rachel jolted, but didn't move her hand away.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just..." she stumbled over her words, trying to figure out how to make this better. Not that she needed to. She just had this compulsion, this need to apologize. Even if there wasn't any need to.

The older woman smiled gently. "It's alright. I understand, really. I guess I'm just wondering, well...what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in New York?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes slipping back down to the grooves in the table.

"I..." she stumbled as she pulled her hand from her lap and laid it on the table.

The woman across from her gasped softly before taking her left hand into hers, bringing it up to inspect the ring.

"Oh Rachel," she sighed as she inspected the small diamond. "It's beautiful. Is this..."

She nodded, bringing her lip between her teeth as she looked up at the woman in front of her.

"He asked me last weekend," she whispered. "He asked me to marry him and I said yes."

The older woman gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "How?"

"He took me to dinner at Orso, and then we walked around Times Square until we came to a fountain, and he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife and I said...I said yes."

"You don't sound happy about it..." the older woman sighed as she squeezed her hands. "Rachel?"

She shrugged. "I am. I love him, he's my new beginning but I still..." Her voice faltered.

"I get it." The woman stopped her. "But Rachel, you have to know that he would want you to be happy."

She remained quiet, her eyes falling back to the marks on the table. "He would want you to live your life, and achieve your dreams. H would want you to find love again."

She bit her lip. "I know that, deep in my heart. And I've tried really hard to come to terms with it. It's been 5 years, but part of me...part of me still feels like it was yesterday."

Carole stood up and walked around the table and placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel turned to her with a trembling lip. This was harder than she had anticipated. As she stared at Carole, she saw traces of Finn reflected back at her. He had his mothers eyes, the ones looking back at her were kind and loving, just like his had been. But there was something else reflected in the ones she was seeing now. She saw pride. And sadness.

"Trust me Rachel, I know," she whispered as she patted her shoulder. "After he passed away, I felt like the world had stopped spinning. I couldn't breathe. But slowly, every day I started to grow a little bit stronger, bit by bit. Because I knew not living life isn't what he would want. He wouldn't want us, me or you to sit around and waste our lives dwelling on the way his ended. He would want us to remember him, keep him in our hearts as we go on and live our lives. It's why Burt and I have helped chaperone as many glee club events as we can. And honey, he would want you to find happiness. He would want you to find love and get married and fulfill your dream of being an amazing mother. He would want you to live because he couldn't, anymore. He would want you to take that love the two of you shared, that once in a life time love and harness it into something bigger, something wonderful. And you've done that, with Broadway and your relationships with your now fiance. You are his legacy. He loved you so much Rachel, even when you didn't think..."

"I always loved him. I still love him," she pulled her hand away from Carole's and pulled out the star necklace that she wore around her neck. "He was always my plan but then he..."

"He didn't want to go Rachel," Carole said softly as tears surfaced in her eyes. "He didn't choose to get hit by a drunk driver. But that's the reality. But this," she picked up Rachel's hand and held up the engagement ring.

"This is your new plan. The plan that he would want you to have. Even if it doesn't include him. But as long as you keep him in your heart Rachel, it will get easier. Because that's where he belongs."

"Always," she whispered. She opened her arms and wrapped them around Carole, embracing her tightly. She closed her eyes as she embraced the older woman. "Thank you," she whispered.

Carole pulled away from her after a few minutes, reaching up to brush away the few tears that had trickled out of the corners of her eyes.

"I've always considered you to be part of my family Rachel," she whispered as she smiled at her. "And that will continue, long after you get married."

Rachel smiled through her tears. "So you'll come?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

The gravel crunched under his sneakers, the sounds ricocheting off the headstones he walked through until he came to the one he was looking for.

Finn Hudson
1994-2013
loving brother, son, friend

The young man crouched in front of the marble stone, staring at the words for a moment.
"I didn't mean to fall in love with her, Finn," he started softly. "But she's quite the force to be reckoned with, I suppose you knew that already though." The young man pulled at the grass below his feet for a moment before starting to speak again. "I don't even really know what I'm doing here at the moment. She's talking to your mom right now and I guess I just wanted to give them privacy. She wanted to tell your mother face to face. Couldn't wait to call her father's and the many family members on her Dad's side but she wanted to come home and tell your mom face to face." He paused. "She still loves you. I know that. But somehow, in that big heart of hers she chose to let me love her too. I'm going to take care of her Finn. I guess I just wanted to tell you that, face to face. Or as close to face to face as we're going to get. She's incredible, she's amazing and...I love her so much. It took me completely by surprise but...but just watching her succeed and achieve and just...just be herself has made me fall so hard. But we won't forget you, either. Finn, you've given me the best gift I could have asked for. You've given me Rachel. I know in my heart that you are the reason I get to experience the love of his amazing woman. She's amazing because of you. She's amazing because you gave her the strength to be who she is and go after her dreams and achieve them. I'm just the lucky guy who gets to benefit from all of that. You made her who she is and I am incredibly thankful that I get to love her. But I do have a favor. And I don't even think I really need to ask this because you've been doing it already for the past five years. But could you look after her? My job takes me away from her a lot, and there has been quite a few times where she's alone in New York. And I just need to know that she's taken care of. It's easier, knowing that you've got it covered from up there. And I'll do my best down here. She's my life Finn. Just like she's yours. Thank you for sharing her with me."

"Hey," he turned around to find Rachel standing behind him, hands clasped in front of her waist. She walked closer to him as he stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned her head on his chest as he pressed a kiss to her hair. "What brought you here?"

"I just wanted to talk to him. Thank him," he whispered as he ran his hand up and down her arm.

She pulled her head away from his chest for a moment. "Thank him?"

"Yeah. I figured I owed him some thanks," he sighed. She raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him. He chuckled. "He gave me a pretty incredible gift, you know."

"And what's that?"

"You," he murmured as she lifted her face to his. "I love you Rachel Berry."

"I love you too Sam Evans."

Somehow my clouds disappeared, somehow I made it here, maybe just so you could hear me say
The sun will rise

Dedicated to the memory of Finn Hudson and Cory Monteith. We miss you.