Title: A New Direction

Pairing/Characters: Puck/Rachel with Rachel/Kurt (friendship), Rachel/Finn and Kurt/Blaine

Rating/Warnings: Probably T for language.

Summary: Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck.

Spoilers: Anything up to Special Education can be considered fair game.

Disclaimer: Glee does not belong to me

Rachel was sat in the auditorium. School had been out for a while and she was enjoying the silence. In the silence of the huge room, her thoughts kept going over and over the argument she'd had with Finn and the other members of the glee club in the green room at sectionals. Was it true? Did they all just pretend to like her so she'd continue to sing with them? Rachel sighed, admitting to herself that it was undoubtedly true and if she was being completely honest with herself, its not like that piece of information was a huge surprise. She had grown used to being an outcast, but she had began to feel as if she really belonged with the glee club and now everything had been shaken up, again. The rebukes from both her team mates and her teacher had really shaken her confidence and had been a humiliating slap in the face.

Rachel's thoughts, and her silence was disrupted when the door opened and she scowled when Mr Schuester walked in, of all the people in the school he had been one of the last she would have wanted to speak to. He seemed genuinely surprised to see her there and before she could change her mind she walked up to him. "Mr Schuester can I have a moment please?" He nodded, and as she stepped closer to him, he squeezed her shoulder and smiled his familiar crooked smile, and Rachel was actually surprised to see he looked pleased to see her. "Sure, is everything okay Rachel?" He looked concerned and Rachel abruptly felt her eyes fill with tears and she blinked furiously. It was ridiculous that just a small show of support or concern could effect her so much, and it wasn't until it happened she realised how much she had needed that. The only other person recently to actually act like she meant anything and like her opinion was important had been Noah. She took a deep breath. "I'd like to talk to you about what occurred over the past few days. I realise you were under a lot of stress with sectionals and finding the final member so we could qualify. Having said that, while I realise my behaviour was inappropriate and over the top, your reaction and the way you spoke to me was equally so. There was no need to speak to me in such a harsh tone, and to be honest I resent being singled out for rebuke, as I was not the only member of the glee club acting out." Mr Schuester sighed and looked down, then back up and met her eyes and nodded.

"You are completely right, Rachel. I was inappropriate and I apologise. I shouldn't have singled you out." Rachel nodded feeling strangely vindicated. Mr Schuester shook his head. "Having said that, Rachel, you need to understand that you aren't going to get every solo in every competition, and you need to support your fellow glee club members."

Rachel felt her face flush with temper and indignation. "I do support everyone else! I believe that Santana, Brittany and Mike secured our victory at sectionals with their amazing performance, and I said so at the time." She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm to list her complaints and get her point across, both of which were of critical importance to her right now. "However, I do have some questions. Why am I consistently the only to be rebuked for my behaviour? When I get a solo, and everyone else complains about them not getting it, how come they don't get reprimanded?" As she was speaking Rachel could feel the tears she had been holding in escape and slowly roll down her face, where she brushed at them angrily. "I realise people see me as a diva, and say I'm stuck up. I just wish they could see things from my point of view. From day one in this school, I've been mocked, had slushies thrown in my face, been called derogatory names and had insulting pornographic pictures drawn about me in the girls bathroom. Then I joined the Glee club, and when I'd finally started to believe I had somewhere I finally belonged, suddenly I'm constantly being called insulting names and having people say they hate me, or that they only pretend to be my friend so I won't quit. So now."

Rachel stopped, and cleared her throat, trying fruitlessly to stem the flow of tears. "I ask you where is my support? Where is all the huge speeches about supporting each other? Or does that only matter when it is aimed at me?" She took a few seconds to wipe her eyes, and then raised her head and looked her teacher in the eye. "To be honest Mr Schuester over the past week, I have given serious thought to following Kurt's lead and finding an alternate place to go to school. To find another school where I could relax and where I would finally fit in, because it is becoming more and more obvious I don't fit in here." Rachel stopped talking, as her tears made it impossible to talk. She glanced over and even through her tears she could see the look of shock on Mr Schuesters face. Without waiting for him to respond Rachel picked up her bag, turned and walked off, up the stairs and out of the auditorium. Due to her still blinded by her tears, she had completely missed the fact that there had been a witness to the entire conversation, sat in the chairs at the back of the auditorium.

As she stepped outside the school, she shrugged into her coat, and putting her bag on her back set out across the parking lot toward where she got the bus. She had gone into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water but knew that she hadn't disguised the fact she had been crying. She was glad her dads were working late tonight, as she didn't want to discuss everything that had just happened. Rachel sighed, all she really wanted to do was to go home and forget all about it. She jolted when she heard her name being shouted. "Rachel," She turned around when her name was called, and saw Kurt Hummel coming across the parking lot toward her. She turned and walked back across the parking lot towards him. "Kurt? What are you doing here?" Kurt tilted his head, and gave her one of his patented long suffering looks. "Looking for you, obviously. I spoke to Finn, and he told me some of what had happened, so as soon as I could I decided to find you. I went by your house, and the park, and I knew that since you weren't at either place, the most likely place for you to be would be the auditorium and I was right."

As she walked up to him he put his arms around her and gave her a hard hug. "I'm sorry but I overheard that entire conversation with Mr Schue. Why didn't you tell me it had gotten so bad?" Rachel looked at him incredulously.

"When? All the times you and Mercedes called me names and mocked me behind my back? All the times you complained to Mr Schuester about the fact I had gotten a solo, in front of me? Tell me, Kurt, when was I supposed to let you know it was upsetting me? You left because you were being bullied and yet you never realised that you were doing the same to me. Now suddenly because you've left McKinley and you and Finn are step-brothers, we're going to become instant best friends? I don't think so." She turned to walk off and Kurt caught her arm. "Rachel wait, l'm really sorry. I was terrible to you, and despite what you might think, I had realised it, I just couldn't find a way to broach the subject with you. If you want we can go somewhere and talk about it. I'd like to clear the air and start again." Rachel looked at Kurt and saw the sincerity on his face and she smiled. He grinned in relief and let go of her arm. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home, I know Finn normally drives you home, so I'll act as chauffeur and we'll go get some ice cream."

They had just began to walk across the parking lot away from the school toward Kurt's car, when Rachel heard someone coming up quickly behind them. Next to her, she felt Kurt stiffen and together they turned to look and Rachel was surprised to Noah jogging up behind them. He stopped just in front of them and looked at Kurt. "Dude, are you suicidal? Football might have finished a couple hours ago, but Karofsky is still around here somewhere. I don't trust that asshole as far as I can throw him, and I really don't want to get sent back to juvie for kicking his ass, so do me a favour and get the fuck out here, yeah?" Before Kurt could say anything he smiled and stepped forward and punched the smaller boy gently on the shoulder. "Seriously though, it's nice to see you out of that monkey suit though. You guys were great at sectionals." His voice trailed off as he looked across at Rachel and Kurt felt his jaw drop when the other boy dropped his bag and stepped up and into Rachel's personal space. "Rachel, what's wrong?" He asked in concern. "You've been crying. That's not like you."

As Kurt watched in fascination Noah lifted her chin so he could see her face clearly. He frowned. "Did Finn do something because I swear to god, bro or no bro, I will kick every inch of his stupid ass." Rachel shook her head. "No, it wasn't Finn. Its just.." Her voice trailed off and her shoulders slumped and Kurt felt himself get worried. This wasn't the confident bright diva he remembered. Kurt went to step forward when Rachel sniffled and looked like she was about to start crying again, but again he was surprised when Noah pulled her closer and gently gave her a hug. Kurt looked at him speculatively. "Puck, how would you like to come and get some ice cream?" Puck looked at him for a few seconds then nodded. "Beats the hell out of fighting my brat of a sister for the remote." Kurt pointed at his ride and Noah nodded walking along casually beside Kurt and Rachel. They were quiet but for once the silence didn't feel strained or uncomfortable. Looking at the boys on either side of her Rachel bit back a smile, who would have thought that when the week started that she'd be contemplating a friendship with both Noah and Kurt. The past was by no means forgotten, but she'd wait and see how things turned out.

A/N: I have no idea where this came from, except after watching the episode, I thought that Rachel really needed a friend. This should be a multi-chap fic, but as my muse is rather reluctant at the minute, we'll see how it goes.

Oh, and I'm also working on Part 2 of The Panties Conundrum.

Thanks for reading.

Sparkle Girl.