Disclaimer: I don't own anything GLEE, nor do I own the songs used in this fic.

Author's Note: Hey guys! If you're reading this, I love you! While I admit, it took me a long time to get into the show, once I did, I became a full on Gleek. Now I've done fics for other things, but this is my first Glee one, so bear with me!

This fic is set starting from Special Education and then makes it way from there. I'm going to try and keep some of the main plot from the show, but it's a fic, so expect it go everywhere. There will definitely be some surprises along the way, and while this could be considered OOC for Rachel, I'd like to think this would be her real reaction if everything bothered her the way RM makes it seem on the show. Anyways, enjoy and review please!

Rachel Berry woke up more stressed than usual. Her alarm clock read 5:45 in the morning, but she just couldn't even remember when she had fallen asleep. Juggling perfect grades, ballet lessons, voice recordings, Glee, and being a good girlfriend was not part of the typical workload for the average high school student.

When she wasn't writing essays and updating her musical repertoire to keep her fellow Glee clubbers challenged, she was worrying about her career and what girl was trying to get with her star quarterback boyfriend, Finn Hudson. Because while she'll try to hide it with undeniable talent, Rachel Berry was one of the most insecure girls you'd ever meet. Who would want a girl whose mother wouldn't want her anyways?

And don't even get her started on the looks Santana has been throwing Finn lately. It was bad enough knowing that the incredibly attractive Cheerio had once dated Finn, but the fact that he didn't even try to defend Rachel from her constant tormenting left a constant frown on her face. It was his job to protect her, right?

But despite all that, Rachel was in love with Finn. She kept his name on her collar, and with all the things that have happened between them since they started dating, the thought of Finn's toothy grin couldn't help but bring one onto Rachel's. The only thing that made her feel guilty was the way he could trust her with his problems –the way he told her about his insecurities and how he made her feel during Burt and Carole's wedding only made her fall harder- but she couldn't do the same. She needed to learn to trust him more if their relationship was ever going to "make the distance" as she had once told him before. She could do it, she just needed to have more faith in herself, like the way Finn did.

Time for some elliptical, a vegan protein shake, and a vocal warm up.

By the time school rolled around, Rachel Berry had put her stress to the back of her mind, and flashed her hundred-watt smile as she walked through the halls of McKinley High. After all, she only had a year and a half left in this hellhole. Wait, where did that come from? I don't even use bad language in my head…

She shook the thought off and immediately took note of her surroundings. Staring off in his locker was Finn, adorably confused as ever. Her grin widened a little further and as she approached him, she saw him look up and stand a little straighter. They stared into each other's eyes for a couple seconds, and for one moment she could feel all the love he felt for her in that gaze. That was until Santana had shoved Rachel with her shoulder exclaiming, "oops Hobbit, couldn't see you down there", and then winked at Finn.

All the while Finn stayed silent. She tried looking into his gaze one more time, but she didn't see it anymore. With a quiet sigh, she put her smile back up and then gave Finn a short kiss as she walked off to class. You just have to trust him…

It was time for Glee club to start and she was back to normal as long as she ignored the strange looks she had been receiving. People knew something, but this time she didn't feel like she wanted to know.

"I know exactly the perfect song to complement our ranges, we're going to sound magnificent Finn," Rachel exclaimed, letting the image of a standing ovation resonate in her mind.

"Okay Rach, whatever makes you happy," Finn replied squeezing her hand but giving her a weak smile. He'd been looking paler since the wedding, and she was getting concerned.

Mr. Schuester walked in, looking ready to start a long speech. Rachel knew she had to take her opportunity while she had the chance.

"Mr. Schuester, I have an announcement. I have selected the perfect moving ballad for Finn and I to sing to launch our performance for sectionals," Rachel explained adding a little more pizzazz into her smile for effect. She could still hear everyone groan around her.

"Well that's nice Rachel, but face it. We have so much talent in this room and we haven't highlighted it. This time we should have Mike and Brittany give us some special choreography and let the winners of the duets take it this time," Mr. Schuester added with a look of determination on his face.

"W-w-w-what?," Rachel whispered. She had done everything for this club. She practically much made it. And here Barbie and Ken was getting what she had worked so hard for.

"Finn, do something here," Rachel demanded in a low voice.

"Mr. Schue, I'm all about pumping the team and everything, but don't you think that's like, well for practice. You don't take the star quarterback out of the game," Finn mumbled, getting stronger the more he spoke.

"Easy to say when you're the star quarterback, Finn," muttered Tina, who was tired of having the Finn and Rachel be the golden children of the club.

"This isn't just about me, it's about the team," Finn exclaimed, finally getting irritated with the group as Rachel had felt multiple times.

"You are such a hypocrite," Santana threw in spitefully, and finally Rachel scoffed.

"Like you even know what that means," Rachel darkly muttered, even surprising herself at how rude she was being. But then Santana opened her mouth in response, and Rachel forgot how she could have possibly felt guilty.

"What is your problem Santana? You have been driving me crazy since the wedding, and I have had it," she snapped, looking at Finn for confirmation. Finn got paler by the second.

"Rachel stop, she's not worth it…" Finn whispered quietly, and she almost couldn't believe her ears.

"You know that's not what he said last year when he was in a motel room with me. Yeah, that's right Yentl, your sweetheart? He's been lying to you, because he totally got in on with me that night," she said snidely, feeling vindictive as she watched Rachel's face go from anger to pure shock.

The rest of the floor went silent.

"ENOUGH! Let's work on Sectionals NOW! No more talk about anything that isn't related to it," Mr. Schuester snapped, getting sick of his kids fighting with each other when they should be ready to be fighting the competition. If he weren't so angry, he wouldn't have seen Rachel completely close up.

It was the day of Sectionals and the cast of New Directions was anxiously pacing around after listening to the talented renditions done by the Hipsters and the Warblers. Finn himself was practically tearing his hair out, trying to figure out words of wisdom for his team, but coming up with nothing. That was Rachel's job.

As soon as that thought passed through his head, he hung his head in shame. Rachel had not spoken to him since that meeting where Santana had told her he was lying. And that scared him, because if anything, Rachel should be talking him to death. And he would take it, because he knew by the end of her rant, she would forgive him. Because that's what they did. He messed up and she forgave him. Because we love each other. Right? But each passing second she didn't talk to him, the more freaked out he got. Ensue more hair pulling.

He had tried cornering her, but she would be faster and soon he gave up and figured she needed space. Soon she'd realize, they weren't even dating when he slept with Santana so she didn't really have the right to get so upset. Yeah, that would work. All he had to do was make sure she got that. She loved him.

But as the New Directions went on stage, he started seeing Rachel in the light. There was none of that bright sparkle in her eyes that he fell for in the first place. In fact, they looked quite sunken in, when was the last time she got sleep? And when did she start looking so skinny? He knew his girlfriend was "dainty" as she had once put it, but her dress for Sectionals looked baggy on her. But what hit him the hardest was her singing. She just wasn't trying, and Rachel Berry never put less than 100% in her singing. Shit, I have a lot of damage control to do.

When the judge announced they had tied with the Warblers and were moving onto Regionals he sighed in relief, and swooped to embrace Rachel, only to feel her stiffen and tense in his arms. When he let go, she didn't even look at him. She simply moved along, offering handshakes to members of the Warblers, only giving Kurt a giant hug before leaving. That was it! I'm going to make her talk, and we're going to fix this. He was tired of having to chase her everywhere, when they were going to get things back.

"Rach! Rachel! Wait up! Please!" Finn bellowed, sprinting after he saw her pick up her pace through the halls until he grabbed her shoulders, even though she refused to turn around.

"What is your problem, Rachel? When this all went down, you were dating another guy so you have no right to be pissed off over this! Yeah I was wrong to lie to you about it, but I don't think that's what even bothers you. It's the whole Santana part of it!" he shouted finally just letting all of his pent up emotions out until he saw her shoulders shake.

Realizing he'd been harsh, Finn tried to collect her body in a soft embrace and apologize, until she sharply faced him. And then for the first time in weeks, he had gotten a response. And it wasn't pretty.

"Yeah you're right. I'm PISSED because it was Santana. Do you want to know why Finn? Do you?," Rachel shouted, giving Finn no time to respond.

"It's because out of all the girls in this entire FUCKING school, you had to sleep with the one girl who torments me on a daily basis. She's the female version of Karofsky and do you notice? NO! Because she's super hot and popular and you would rather throw me under a bus than risk your popularity! I talked to Kurt. EVERYONE KNEW BUT ME FINN! Goddammit Finn, I just needed to trust you" Rachel continued to scream, feeling her heart breaking as Finn's face crumpled. He was so taken aback. This was no theatrics; she was as serious as a heart attack. She suddenly became quiet, her head lowering as her body was trying to take in any oxygen it could find.

"I can't take this anymore Finn," Rachel whispered so quietly, he might have almost missed it. His head snapped up faster than she could have finished that sentence.

"W-w-what do you mean? We'll fix it, like we always do Rach," Finn stuttered, praying that this moment was just a sick joke she was pulling so that he would realize how important she was. She had to. But she still wasn't looking up.

"It's over Finn," she replied, her voice more hollow than he had ever heard it, as she began to walk off away from him.

"NO! You promised Rachel! You said you'd never break up with me! I love you!" Finn's voice hoarse with emotion. If she would just look into his eyes, she would know!

She finally looked up, but her empty eyes were now filled with tears, and it had Finn floored.

"I never thought you would make me feel this way" her reply came, and then she started running.

He wasn't chasing after her. She didn't expect it, but it didn't make her slow her pace, nor did it break her heart any less. The tears had blurred her vision so she finally tripped on a wire and ended up flat on the floor. So she cried her heart out, and then some. She was so lost and so alone. There was nothing left.

"Berry? Berry! What the hell, are you okay?" shouted a voice she didn't expect to hear at all. Noah Puckerman. I can't even move, God I feel pathetic.

Suddenly she felt herself being scooped up into a pair of strong burly arms, forcing her to look at him.

"What happened and whose ass do I have to kick?" Puck gritted out, fully ready to give some knuckle sandwiches out like candy.

Rachel just shook her head, the tears still preventing her from talking. Puck's eyes softened and he felt just how fragile she was in his arms. So with that, he offered her the softest embrace he could muster, much to her shock. Why was he being so kind?

But at that moment, she would take anything, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed gut-wrenching sobs into his shoulder while Puck rubbed small circles into her back, anything to stop her tears from flowing.

They sat there for an hour.

It was almost eleven by the time Puck had gotten Rachel back to her house. Despite the chilly Ohio air, they sat together outside on the sidewalk, Puck being the most patient she'd ever seen him.

"It's not just him, you know?" Rachel began, shocking Puck who couldn't get a single word out of her the entire time he had stood by her today. After she had finished crying, he walked her to his car, and started the ride home.

"I'm mad at him, don't get me wrong. But not as mad as I am at myself" Rachel continued looking up, while Puck looked on completely confused.

"I'm mad at myself because when I love, I put all of myself on the line, and I just keep getting hurt. It's not safe for my mental health being put down constantly. Can you believe I honestly don't remember why I wanted to be on Broadway anymore? I'm trying so hard and I don't even know what I'm doing. Why do I try so hard to get perfect grades, they're never going to be perfect enough. Why do I try so hard in Glee, when no one could care less what happens to me? Why do I try so hard for Finn, when I feel so insecure around him? I'm doing this to myself, and I can't cope with it anymore," she poured her heart out to the sky as Puck watched astonished. He had no idea the shit Berry was putting herself through. And he really didn't have any words of wisdom because honestly, people didn't expect anything out of him.

"Shit Rachel…" Puck breathed, causing Rachel to finally look at him, because she could not remember the last time he called her by her first name.

"Look, I get shit isn't looking up right now, I do. I just got out of Juvi, remember? But you take everything so fucking seriously, y'know? The Puck-meister never lets shit get to him because in the end, that's not going to make you happy. Are you happy?," Puck acknowledged watching Rachel slowly shake her head. "Well then, start focusing yourself, because you seem to want to make other people happy more. And that's not going to happen until you are."

Wow, who knew Noah Puckerman would be the one making me feel better in my time of despair. I must have hit a new all time low.

"'Yeah, I know what you're thinking. When I was trapped in that port-a-potty, I promised God I would be nice to people from now on. But then I realized that it wouldn't let me beat people up, so I narrowed it down to my fellow Jews. And I like you Berry, believe it or not." Puck stated with his trademark smirk, and even Rachel couldn't help but let out a little chuckle, before sneezing.

"Alright Berry, I don't know about you, but my gonads are about to fall off because of the cold, and a lot of girls rely on these babies. I'll see you tomorrow at our Glee celebration. Take it easy alright?" Puck motioned, giving Rachel a hand before another embrace. This time she nodded and whispered a soft "thanks" before going into her house. She'll figure it out, she's going to be the one to get out of this town.

When Rachel Berry walked into Glee club that day, she couldn't help but feeling proud of her team as they celebrated with sparkling apple cider and laughter. Without any of her help, they had made it into Regionals. Barely… but still. Maybe this was a sign; she could relax from her co-captain duties and do what Noah had said. Find herself.

They would be completely okay with it anyways, none of them had even bothered to check on her when she left after Sectionals or her being silent now. No, it's the right choice.

"Hey," a deep voice came from behind, as she felt a strong shoulder nudge her own. It was Puck, with a red apple in his hand.

"I didn't know what you like, or really eat for that matter because I know you have a crazy diet, so I brought you an apple from the cafeteria. Nice, huh," Puck motioned, handing it to her and watching her face slowly warm up. Score.

"It's perfect, Noah. Thank you… for everything," Rachel said, giving him the most genuine smile she could manage, and even Puck couldn't help but admire it.

They walked together to the piano, where the group was already placed in a circle, eager to hear Mr. Schue's words on how proud he was. Finn remained on the side, anxious to get Rachel to look at him, but she willed herself to keep as far away as possible. And then Will Schuester walked in with a giant green trophy in his hand.

"Congratulations you guys! It wasn't pretty but we made it," Mr. Schue exclaimed, happy to hear some hollering instead of the arguing it's been the past couple weeks.

"Now, I know we've had our dramas this week, but our family's back in a happy place," he added, completely oblivious to the looks Finn and Puck were throwing at Rachel, while she continued to stay silent, "so we should celebrate the best way we know how. Rachel, give us your best!"

Rachel felt a hand on her shoulder, and she knew just what to say. "I'd actually like to defer it to this weeks' unsung heroes, Mercedes and Tina," she stated, while the group looked on in shock, Finn confused by the knowing smile on Puck's face.

"Well, no need to ask us twice," Mercedes added a grin forming on her face, Tina giving Rachel a small smile.

"Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink"

Mercedes and Tina sang powerfully, and Rachel could feel herself getting lost in the music once more. She ran across the stage, pumping her hands wildly, letting the lyrics take over her body, and danced without coordination. When she opened her eyes, she found Finn looking at her, and she could still feel her heart tugging towards him. But she couldn't. She couldn't be happy with him until she was happy for herself. So she let her eyes close once more before giving into the chorus. She was going to make a happy ending for herself, no matter what she had to put herself through. I owe it to myself.

"The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come…"

Song, "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence & The Machine.