Brighter Than Any Of Those Stars Chapter 1, a glee fanfic

Brighter than any of those stars.

Disclaimer: If I owned Glee I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, I'd stop Brittany from talking about more end of the world scenarios and kill off Marley...

This was what she had spent her whole life working towards. That eventual moment when she, one Rachel Barbra Berry, would be nominated for a Tony Award, and not just any Tony Award, but Best Performance of a Leading Actress in a Musical. It was fate, it had been written in the stars years ago. And yet, as Rachel sat surrounded by her fellow performers and people she had admired for years, she couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

So lost as she was in her thoughts, that Rachel failed to hear her category being announced and it wasn't until her long time best friend and co-star, Kurt Hummel, nudged her in the arm, that Rachel was aware of the fact that she had won. she didn't have to feign her shock, she had honestly had no idea that her category had even been close and it was this that had her the most shocked. She had worked her entire life for this, and now in this very moment she was thinking about what was missing from her life?! But as she approached the podium, Rachel realised it was because this victory wasn't like she imagined it, it felt almost empty.

As she began to wind up her speech by thanking her Dad's for everything they had done to make her dreams come true, that Rachel found herself continuing to talk;

"And finally, I want to dedicate this award to an old friend who told sixteen year old me, that he didn't need to name a star after me, because I already was one and I don't know if I would be standing here today if it wasn't for him, so thank you."

As Rachel exited the stage, she was oblivious to the applause around her, even to the trophy in her hand, instead her mind was on that boy, who had been the first person to make her truly feel like a star.

-xXx-

Finn Hudson sat on his couch in Lima, Ohio, watching the Tony Awards on Television and trying to convince himself that he was watching only to honour a promise to his brother, who was in attendance. But if Finn were to be completely honest with himself, he would admit that he was also watching for his ex-fiancée Rachel Berry, who he knew had been nominated for an award, meaning that Finn would be guaranteed a sighting of her.

Over the years, Finn had kept tabs in Rachel's career through his brother and the Internet, he had even snuck in and saw her performing in an off Broadway show once. it wasn't that Finn was still hung up on her, he wasn't, he just enjoyed watching her become the star he always knew her to be.

As the nominees for Best Performance of a Leading Actress in a Musical were announced, Finn couldn't help but catch his breath as the screen zoomed in on Rachel, who was an eye capturing vision in red. He wasn't surprised when she won, he never doubted she would, he was however, surprised by the end of her speech,

Finn sat stunned as the TV went to commercial. He was honestly surprised that she hadn't forgotten and that it still meant something to her after all these years.

-xXx-

The next day at work found Finn at lunch with his long time best friend and mentor, Will Schuester.

"So I watched the Tony's last night." Will started. By the look on his face, Finn knew Will was testing the water to see if Finn knew what he was talking about and if so, was it open for conversation.

"I know, I watched them too." Finn said, seeing no reason to lie or avoid the topic, after all he still wasn't sure what he was suppose to feel about the whole thing.

"Are you...ok?" Will finished, hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Honestly Will, it was just a girl thanking someone she use to know for something kind they once said." Will's face told Finn he wasn't buying it.

"It more than that then and it still does Finn. Rachel's dreamt about that moment her whole life and the moment her dream comes true she chooses to thank you in her acceptance speech, and not only that she credited you with helping her to reach her dreams. I think it meant more than you care to admit." Will said, standing up and pushing in his chair. "I have a to do a few things before my next class, see you in Glee."

As Will walked away, Finn found himself lost in his thoughts as Will's and Rachel's speeches rotated in his mind, interrupted only by memories of the girl he had once loved.

-xXx-

Meanwhile, back in New York City, Rachel Berry sat fending off unwanted questions from her nosey best friend over brunch.

"Honestly Rach, you can't tell me that little heartfelt speech meant nothing to you." Kurt Hummel demanded slamming down his coffee in a moment of true dramatic flair. It had been said many times that Rachel Berry was a Drama Queen, but she had long since felt she didn't hold a candle to her best friend.

"You just want it to mean I've been secretly pining over him for the last ten years!" Rachel sighed, sipping at her tea, wishing it would transform into something alcoholic, though it was only ten in the morning. Kurt had been on her case since the ride to the after party last night, causing her to form a stress headache from his constant hounding. Truthfully, Rachel wasn't even aware what had come over her last night that had caused her to think of Finn, let alone thank him. Ok, truth be told, Rachel had never gotten over her high school boyfriend. After all, it wasn't exactly easy to simply forget the first person you ever loved, nearly married and who then went on to break up with you so that you wouldn't abandon your dreams for him. And yes, Finn had never been perfect, but neither had she, and she would be lying if she said it had never crossed her mind over the years if she had made a mistake letting him go. Her repeated failure in the romance department a testament to that.

It had been ten years since she had broken up with Finn and ever since that day her trademark gold star, once a reminder of her goals in life, was now a constant reminder of Finn and all that he had done to prove to her she was a star.

"How is he?" she blurted out. Kurt, who had still been dissecting every aspect of her speech, stopped in surprise.

"How's who?" he asked.

"Finn." Rachel exasperatedly replied, honestly what other 'he' was there?!

"Oh Finn. he's good. He's really loving teaching drama. He runs Glee club with Mr. Shue too, you know." Though both Rachel and Kurt were now well into their twenties, they both still found it hard to refer to Mr. Shue by Will, though they had both been told to on many occasions.

"Good, good. I'm glad." Rachel responded, but what she was really thinking was that she hadn't known he ran McKinley High's Glee club with Mr. Shue because she had avoided listening whenever Kurt brought him up over the years, finding it too painful to think of her ex-fiancé.

"Rachel, do you still love him?" Kurt asked.

"Who?" Rachel asked, though she knew perfectly well who. It was Kurt's turn to shoot her a look.

"Batman." He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Admitting defeat, since she figured Kurt probably already knew the answer, Rachel reminded herself that she was almost 28 years of age and bit back her sarcastic response to answer maturely.

"I love the man I knew ten years ago Kurt. I don't know him anymore." Kurt sat mulling over her response in a few moments of blissful silence, as Rachel's headache had only grown during their conversation. Finally he reached over and grasped her hand and stared directly into her eyes, a move that had Rachel biting back a grin, before answering;

"How will you ever know if you never try Rach. Once upon a time Rachel Berry cried pedophile because she didn't get what she wanted. So maybe she's not as dramatic anymore." He said, holding up a hand to stop the retort on the tip of her tongue about having grown since then. "But that doesn't mean she can't fight for what she wants anymore, does it?"

-xXx-

Wednesday night found Finn back on his couch watching a popular cop show he couldn't remember the name of, when really he was trying not to brood over Rachel and her speech.

A knock at his front door startled him out of his thoughts. Surprised, since the only person who ever really visited him was Will, who Finn knew had gone into the next town over with his wife for the night to see a show, Finn headed toward the front door. Ignoring his Golden Lab, Oscar, who lifted his head from the floor to whine. Truly baffled as to his visitor's identity, Finn opened the door and discovered the last person he ever expected to find on his doorstep in Lima, Ohio at 8 o'clock on a Wednesday night, staring up at him.

"Hello Finn."

AN: Not expecting this to be a long fic, 2/3 chapters at the most.

For those interested in my other fic, Reunion, expect an update soon!

Please review and thanks for reading :)