Mean

Verse: Glee

Genre: Humour

Rating: PG- 13

Pairing: Rachel/Puck

Song: Mean by Taylor Swift

Summary: It wasn't like Rachel didn't tell them her dreams were always going to be bigger than theirs. She was just singing it now.

2021

This was her favourite moment; it was more than all the board way roles she had clocked up. It was better than when she earned her place among the stars. The TV crew and cameras made the hall seem so much smaller than what it really was.

She wouldn't deny it; Rachel Berry loved the idea that now she was so big, even a small performance would draw a crowd from the media to report on what she was up to now. She was sure that half the people in the audience didn't understand just what it meant but that didn't matter because this was her moment.

Her moment where all the times she was mocked, drenched in slushes, told she wasn't good enough and told to shut up meant nothing. No gloating, after all these years those words and actions that drove her to the stage and pushed her for bigger and better things didn't mean a damn thing.

For all those moments everyone told her she was just a small town loser, she had once wanted to prove them all wrong, by singing and telling them every day that she was Rachel Barbara Berry.

A flash and she knew that the sea of faces out there were never going to morph into those of her past tormentors; those ghosts were long since laid to rest for her but she wouldn't stop them from feeling guilty when they saw her performance and the evening news.

"Everyone; Please be silent now for Rachel Berry" the voice only caused her joy to grow. She was performing not for the mass outside nor the people who always thought they were bigger and better than her. She was performing for herself and for a select group who had proven that she could have her big dreams and more. The curtains parted and a round of clapping shot up. She grinned brightly, spotting two heads of dark hair and knowing that was her reason.

she had grown since those days in Lima; where she ducked her head to ignore their mean words, pretending those kids had been hurt and were looking to unload their hurt. She had moved past the girl who dressed in her comfort clothes to help with the pain of knowing no matter how much she tried she was never going to be the one over looked for the daily attacks and zeroed out for her performance.

"Good afternoon; as I very special promise to two very special people I agree to perform today. I would like to dedicate this to two of the most important people in my life" with a wink she held the mic like she was born for this world; years ago she thought she was meant only for this.

But to her delighted surprise she discovered that she was meant for something else, something more then just being the biggest star.

All attention was on her and she was focused on two faces staring up at her like she was the only person in the world; the only person to mean any thing. She won't lie, tonight when she watched her performance on the news she would know there would be a few people back in Lima who would be sitting in a bar, with their loud opinions and their mean natures.

They wouldn't have changed but she had and she had gotten all her big dreams. And she had proof; when she finished her performance and she was engulfed by her five year old twins, she had gotten her dreams and more. And her leading man strolled through the door and praised her 'bad ass' performance, she knew that having big dreams could only mean two things.

You let people get to you and destroy them or you know that one day you were going to make it to that big city and live the life you were meant to live.

Rachel Berry had done that the moment she took Noah Puckerman's hand on the way to New York city. She was given all her dreams when she was praised as the next big board way star.

And when her babies filled her arms, she knew she had gotten all that much more.

While all those who ever doubted were stuck in some small town being mean.

The End.