Disclaimer- this from finchel-promts on tumbler so thanks for whoever submitted it. If that's you let me know.

Rachel's alarm sounded at four in the morning even though work didn't start until seven. She worked at the Hudson Recording Studio in New York City; a lowly secretarial job at the front desk, but it was better than nothing.

She climbed out of her warm bed and trudged groggily into her bathroom. She filled her bathtub with steamy water as hot as it could get and soaked in it until the water went cold. She knew she shouldn't be indulging in hot baths when her water bill was so high, but she needed it. She hated having to worry about stacks of bills growing in size on the end table by her front door. This isn't how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be in a beautiful apartment with the man of her dreams, singing on Broadway. Instead, she was doing someone else's busywork. She knew she should have been more grateful but she couldn't help but wonder, what if?

She blow dried her hair and applied her makeup before heading out the door. One good thing about waking up at this hour was that the New York traffic wasn't as bad as it was later in the day. She pulled her car into the dark parking lot of Hudson's Recording Studio, grabbed her faculty key and let herself in. She peeked through the window, paranoia getting the best of her, locked the door behind her and got herself organised.

With a silver disc in hand, Rachel walked into the recording booth and admired the high quality equipment. It was so easy for her to pretend that she was meant to be here, recording an official cast soundtrack for a Broadway musical.

"Ms. Berry, so glad you made it! Are you ready to start recording the album for your hit show."

"Why, yes, I am."

"Come right this way."

Her self-indulgent daydream came to a halt as her phone buzzed, a text appearing on her screen.

Kurt: don't get caught little diva

Rachel: don't plan on it

Rachel's best friend, Kurt, was the only one who knew why she came to work hours too early. He was the only one she'd trusted with her secret, because even though Kurt couldn't resist teasing her, he was always there to support her.

Rachel slid her instrumental disc into the player and put on the headset. It had taken her many weeks to learn how to use the advanced equipment and every break she got at work, she used to watch the others who were lucky enough to have a career in the music industry. Ever since she'd figured out how to use the recording booth, she'd started to sneak in early to use it. Rachel knew she was supposed to, but she could never give up on her career and she needed to keep her voice in top shape. Besides, she wasn't hurting anyone. Rachel had a serious past with Broadway. She almost made her big break until someone got in the way. Someone she swore she would never talk about. All thoughts of him were washed away as the first few bars of her song played into her ears.

She sang 'I Dreamed A Dream' into the mic until she heard the faint click of the door unlocking. She widened her eyes at the clock and saw that it was, in fact, time for Mr. Hudson to arrive. She quickly grabbed her stuff and ducked into the bathroom, wondering how time had gotten away from her.

From the bathroom, she heard Mr. Hudson mumbling on the phone.

"I know I need someone but it's really been stressful here at the studio, alright? … No, Quinn Fabray bailed on me. If I don't get someone special then the studio is going to close and I'll be done for."

Rachel felt a panic. Hudson's Recording Studio, close? Rachel waited almost an hour for someone else to show up to work, all the while nervously wondering what would become of the company. She escaped from the bathroom into the main lobby, blending in with her co-workers, appearing as if she had just arrived.

"Hello, Finn," she smiled, spotting Mr. Hudson entering the lobby.

"Hi, Rachel."

Rachel thought a lot of her boss, admiring his kind smile and hazel eyes. Maybe she had developed a little crush on him over the past few years, but there was no way she going to initiate anything. She saw no reason why a successful, handsome guy like Finn Hudson would be interested in her. She was somewhat talented, sure, but she was no great beauty.

She found herself at her desk with a note from Finn, telling her to cancel all of Quinn Fabray's future appointments. Rachel wondered what had happened to the promising starlet. Quinn Fabray wasn't a spectacular singer by any means, but she was beautiful, so people loved her and everyone - even Finn - knew she was destined for Hollywood stardom. He'd been in such an ecstatic mood when Quinn had signed with the studio. He knew she was going to jump start his newfound career.

It was clear how distraught Finn was now that Quinn Fabray had suddenly quit. Still, Rachel's resentment of Quinn kept her from caring too much. Rachel was twice the singer that Quinn was, and yet everyone fell to the blonde's feet. That one mistake she had made three years ago was affecting everything. Rachel Berry was a nobody and unless she did something to change that, she would remain a nobody.

It had been a week since Rachel had been back to record in the studio. She didn't want to show up everyday and increase her chances of losing her job over something like this, even if Hudson's Recording Studio was about to go under, but today she felt the need to sing and hear her voice playback on those high quality speakers. She belted 'Cry' by Kelly Clarkson into the microphone and started to break down when she was finished.

She wiped her tears, frustrated with herself, and waited in the bathroom for her co-workers to arrive. She was always emotional these days. The longer she went the more she worried that she would never be the star she wanted to be. It felt so pathetic for her career to be over before it had even started. Even Kurt had limited knowledge about her past because it wasn't something Rachel wanted to talk about. She would give anything to go back to being eighteen with what she knew now. She saw people even younger than her every day with boyfriends, careers and futures to look forward to and it made her feel hopeless.

Rachel walked into the lobby, hoping no-one would notice her red-rimmed eyes. Luckily, they were all hovering around, murmuring to each other.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked one of the young interns.

"Hudson wants to have a meeting with everyone."

Rachel furrowed her brow as Finn briskly walked in and called for everyone's attention, a silver disc slack in his hand. Rachel felt a panic rise as she manically tried to remember if she'd taken her CD back out of the player in the recording booth, if she'd erased the audio she'd recorded in the early morning...

"It's come to my attention that someone - probably one of our staff - has been using studio equipment without authorization," said Finn, staring sternly at the crowd of staff members, "Special precautions are going to be taken. We can't have our staff taking advantage of company property."

Rachel bit her bottom lip, starting to wash over with guilt. She thought she hadn't been hurting anyone, but she hadn't realized how much stress Finn was already under. The meeting came to a close and Rachel's ethical side told her she had to say something.

"Finn? Can we talk?" she asked quietly as the crowd dispersed.

"Yeah, sure," he said, smiling fondly down at her face like he always did, his eyes locking into hers.

They walked back into his office and sat on a thin fabric couch by the window.

"Finn... There's no easy way to say this, but, it was me. I was using the recording equipment and that's my CD a-and before you say anything, I know it was wrong, I know that, and I'm so sorry that I put even more stress on-"

"Wait, that's you on this thing?!" Finn asked incredulously, his eyes bugging out as he held up the CD.

Rachel nodded sheepishly, waiting to be reprimanded, or fired.

"Rachel, you're amazing!" Finn breathed, in disbelief, "I mean, yeah, you shouldn't use company property, but forget that for now. You have the best voice I've ever heard. I have to talk to the label about this. Do you mind? I mean, they need to hear you, Rachel. You didn't use any enhancers, did you?"

"No," Rachel beamed, "That... That's just me."

"Good," Finn smiled, "I want to get you back in the studio and send it to the other board members, because they need to hear you."

Rachel opened her mouth, but found herself speechlessly ecstatic. She bounced up and threw her arms as far as they would reach around his broad shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. Finn blinked in surprise and hugged back, squeezing around her thin frame as her hair brushed his face, smelling faintly of strawberries. He was surprised how intoxicating a hug it was - one that he didn't want to let go of.

Rachel had always been this cute but mousy girl he'd known for so long and yet never really noticed. But now he could finally see how spectacular she was and he knew one thing for certain:

Rachel Berry will be a star.

So let me know what you think is this good or not? Also A HUGE thanks to my beta rakestrawberry I couldn't have done it without you, you rock. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.