A.N.: I'd like to thank Sasha272 for the prompt and for getting me back into my Pezberry state of mind and Paula De Roma for being such an insightful writer.

Disclaimer: I've never even been to Chicago let alone seen it.

"Final boarding call for 4:15 to JFK." The sound of the announcement resonated through Rachel's brain like a warning. A warning that was telling her, 'It's now or never. There's no going back after this.' With a deep breath, Rachel grabbed her pink carry-on luggage and her soy latte and determinedly strode through LAX Customs to where her flight awaited her.

Stepping out of JFK Airport and back into the city where this all started had a somewhat crippling affect on Rachel. That year and a half in L.A. completely ruined any bit of familiarity she gained with the city after high school.

There was an uneasiness to her walk now. The purse where she once kept a pair of running shoes for when she'd walk to work, now held wrappers, empty water bottles, useless numbers, and meaningless business cards. She now felt embarrassed for the harsh way she knew she'd have to call for a cab. Rachel Berry was actually afraid to take the subway. If she still had any friends they'd be laughing at her right now. She felt out of place here in the worst way possible. But did she even have the right to after the way things ended back in L.A.? She doesn't even want to think back enough to find out her answer.

This little experience has taught her one thing though. It is definitely possible to be absolutely alone in a city of seven million people.

Rachel tossed and turned that night in her hotel room bed. Being back in this city was bringing out some of her worst memories.

If you ever pull something like this again, I will not only fire you; I will sue you back to the stone age for breach of contract. And you'll never be able to work on Broadway again. Your reputation will not exist.

Rachel awoke with a start. Her body was covered in a cold sweat and there was a tight pressure in her chest. Sidney Greene hadn't lied when he said she would never be able to work on Broadway again. She couldn't see herself touching that stage again let alone having her name be positively associated with it.

Then why in the world am I even back here?

In all reality Rachel knew why. There was nowhere else to go. L.A. was a bust and there was no way she was heading back to Lima. The only people she actually cared about that were in Lima were her parents, Mr. Shue, and Sam. Her life stood on a proverbial head from where she was almost two years ago.

Unsure of how long its been, Rachel glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table. It read 5:48 back to her with red glaring accuracy. Deciding to start her day twelve minutes early, Rachel trudged into the spacious hotel bathroom. The brunette smiled to herself as she soaked in the well crafted bathtub. At least there were a few things that hadn't changed.

Once again Rachel found her thoughts drifting back to her life before she made such a huge mistake.

You're this huge talent, Rachel.

Was this huge talent.

You're a really good friend, Santana.

She was oh god, she was. She was probably the only other real friend she had besides Kurt and she didn't even realize it until it was too late. Santana was always there. Through the pregnancy scare, Brody, Finn dying, saving her ass with Sydnie, and even helping her on opening night. These were just the things she'd done after graduation. If this is the amount of guilt she gets from thinking about Santana, she could only imagine how she'll feel when it's Kurt's turn.

She alienated herself her from the only people that gave two shits about her and the worst part is, she needs them now. A lone tear runs down a tanned cheek at the thought. Rachel gets out of the tub and starts in on the next part of her daily self pity process. She stands strategically in the mirror and looks at the fading bruises along her body. They don't hurt as much as they used to. In fact, the memory of how she got them hurts more than the bruises themselves. She was young and naive to think she could survive on her own on the other side of the country. Actually, she's still young amd naive, but she's learned a few things; about the world and about herself. She learned that she was done fighting to take back her life. Now she's ready to start fighting to live her life.

An even more naive part of her wishes she were still stuck in the choir room fighting over solos and boys.

A.N.: Huh? Huh? What do you guys think? Its just probably gonna be a few chapters, but it's a little side project while I work on what I should be doing which is writing for my other stories. Im a procrastinator, sue me. Until next time...

TGWL