Author's Note: Thanks for all of the positive reviews guys! Here's chapter two.
"Don't move, ok?" Rachel nods earning a light smack on the side of her head from Beth. They're in the bathroom at school getting ready for the New Directions concert and Beth is doing her make-up. "Dammit girl, what did I just say?"
"Sorry." Rachel bites her lip to stop herself from giggling.
"You're the one who's gonna be sorry if this eyeliner pencil ends up getting stuck in your eye." Beth smiles, chuckling slightly.
"Hey, if I can't laugh than neither can you!" This is what Rachel loves about Beth. Drama between them rolls off the girl like rain from the windshield of a moving car. This time it had been Rachel who left things on a weird note but Beth showed up to her house the next day all the same, ready to carpool to the concert like nothing had happened. There was a rare strength to their friendship that Rachel cherished more than almost anything.
"Alright, now look right at me while I put this stuff on." Rachel obeys. She stares into Beth's eyes, the same eyes she's know since middle school but suddenly everything is different. It's funny because she had never noticed much of a resemblance between Beth and her mother before. Their only similarity had been that they were both beautiful but in such different ways, like night and day. Now Rachel sees it. She sees it the sickeningly familiar golden flecks of Beth's hazel gaze and she can't believe she's never noticed before. "Are you ok, Rach? You don't look so hot."
"Gee t-thanks" Rachel manages to recover, pretending to be hurt.
"No, you know what I mean. You look kind of sick." Beth stops and Rachel hears a slight intake of breath. "Could it be that Rachel Berry is actually nervous before a concert? Damn, never thought I'd see the day." Rachel's about to protest that such a thing is preposterous but Beth continues. "It would explain why you've been acting so weird lately…."
She's never had stage fright a day in her life but it's an easier label to stomach than the truth. Recently Rachel's been fighting with herself over telling Beth everything but she always stops at the last second. Rachel Berry couldn't like girls. It just didn't fit into her life. And this was Lima, Ohio, girls weren't like that. Of course, with that point she'd always argue with herself that she didn't even like girls plural, just one girl, not even a girl really, a woman. But that didn't matter since this one woman was her best friend's mom. Beth would never understand.
"Stage fright, yeah, you got me Beth. This concert is, it's you know, the last one before regionals where things get really serious and I don't know, I finally feel the pressure of it all I guess…"
"I get it, Mr. Shue puts so much pressure on you to carry us through. It's not fair." Beth steps back to inspect her own work. "Damn I'm good. You look hot, Rach."
Rachel smiles at her weakly. She inspects herself in the mirror but doesn't see someone beautiful at all, just a liar.
The girls make their way to the choir room where everyone is starting to warm-up. They're about to enter when someone calls Beth's name.
"Hey Beth, baby hey!" There's a man jogging down the hallway towards them that Rachel's never seen before. He's handsome, tall and broad-shouldered with short dark hair and a charming smile.
"Dad!" Beth lets out an uncharacteristic shriek of delight and rushes into the man's arms, allowing him to pick her up and swing her around for a moment. When he sets her down, Beth turns to Rachel, still clinging tight to her dad. "Rachel, this is my Dad. Dad, this is Rachel."
Beth's Dad extends his free hand to her, which Rachel shakes, offering a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Puckerman."
"Please, call me Noah. It's nice to finally meet the infamous best friend, I've heard a ton about you Rachel."
Beth and Noah begin to chat away and Rachel just watches in awe. It's almost freaky how similar father and daughter are. They have the same dark hair; the same mischievous smile and glint behind their eyes and that same irresistible magnetism. She even recognizes the same inflections she's used to hearing from Beth in the way that Noah talks.
"Alright girls, let's go. We're gonna do a final warm-up and then it's show time!" Mr. Shue beckons them both back inside the choir room.
"Good luck Beth, I'll be cheering you on baby. You too Rachel!" He gives Beth one last hug before leaving.
"Oh my God, Rachel, I can't believe my Dad actually came!" Beth's smile is wider than Rachel can ever remember seeing it.
"That's great Beth. I'm so glad I finally got to meet him."
"Yeah, it's kind of crazy that you had never met him before considering how long we've been friends. It's just; he gets bored staying in one place for too long, you know, so he takes different jobs all over the country. We talk on the phone and stuff but he rarely comes back to Lima." At that Rachel detects a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Can't say I blame him though, this town is a shithole. And it's not like him and my Mom are even together…" Rachel wants to say something to comfort her but Mr. Shue is yelling for everyone to get in their places on the risers so she can't.
Warm-ups fly by and it feels like only seconds have passed before New Directions is taking the stage. Rachel squints at the brightness of the lights, allowing her eyes to adjust. Beth takes her hand and squeezes it lightly. "Don't be nervous, you're amazing." She whispers before letting her hand go as she takes her place.
Rachel smiles at the gesture, mouthing a thank you. If only Beth knew how wrong she was. In this moment Rachel feels better than she has in months. The stage is her second home. Under the spotlight there's no room to linger on messy feelings or utter teenaged confusion. This is the world she's grown up in, the one that brings out the best in her, the one she understands completely.
Mr. Shue signals her and Rachel nods, stepping forward from her peers, taking center stage. The initial applause of the audience has died down now and her eyes have finally adjusted. Like she does before every concert, Rachel scans the audience for her Dads.
She's about halfway across the auditorium when a certain blonde catches her eye. Fuck. Rachel wants to scream. Of course she would be able to pick out Quinn in an audience of over one hundred people. She looks beautiful, even from far away, her perfect lips curved into that familiar smile. And for the first time Rachel actually is nervous to perform because Quinn is watching her. She has what she's been dreaming of for months, the complete and undivided attention of the woman she loves. It's awful.
Rachel swallows hard, trying to re-focus her mind. What's the first song? She can't remember for the life of her. Glancing sideways at the accompaniment Rachel sees them starting to play. The familiar beginning chords of "Take A Bow" come on and she breathes a sigh of relief. "Everything is going to be fine," she tells herself. All the same she can't stop looking at Quinn. Again. It's like the woman has a spell cast over her. It's ok though because that's nothing new. She can still perform.
And then she notices it. First it's just a hand that's touching Quinn's upper arm and Rachel frowns because that doesn't make any sense. Then the hand turns into an arm that's draped about her shoulders. From there Rachel's eyes follow the arm to the body connected to it, seated in the chair beside Quinn. Noah Puckerman's face stares back her.
Feeling blooms so rapidly in the pit of her stomach that Rachel almost doubles over from the sudden pain. It feels like jealousy, hurt and desire all wrapped up in one and magnified a thousand times.
"Rachel!" A harsh whisper from somewhere behind her brings Rachel back to reality. She turns to see Mr. Shue frantically motioning to her. It's then that she realizes how silent everything is. The piano has stopped playing. Everyone is looking at her like she's just grown a beard in front of their eyes. Her heart starts beating and for one irrational second she thinks everyone some how found out about her secret. Turning her head back to the audience, back to Quinn, she studies the expression on the blonde's face. Her eyes brows are scrunched and she looks concerned.
Concerned? That's wrong. Rachel knows Quinn would be disgusted if she knew the truth so it can't be that. Then she realizes. She forgot to come in. Rachel Berry messed up a song. No wonder everyone looks dumbfounded. Masking her horror, Rachel clears her throat and gracefully signals the pianist to begin again. Looking out into the audience, she plasters a smile onto her face and begins to sing.
The concert ends and Rachel can't get off the stage fast enough. She's rushing into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The tears she's been holding back burst forth from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks in fountains. She's so damn tired of crying but doesn't know of any alternative. Watching Quinn with Noah was like torture. It was one thing to pine over someone you could never have but it was quite another to see someone else get her so easily, without barely batting an eyelash. Rachel wipes at her tears with the backs of her hands, breathing deeply and shaking her head.
The door to the bathroom opens and Beth walks in. "Rach, you ok?"
Rachel bends down, turning the faucet on and splashing water over her reddened eyes. "Y-yes, I'm fine."
"It's ok, you know. It was barely a mistake. We only made a big deal about it because it was so unlike you. The rest of your parts were flawless, as usual."
Clearing her throat as she rights herself once more, Rachel looks at Beth. "It won't happen again" is all she says.
"I know. Now come on, let's get out of here." Beth takes her hand and leads her out of the bathroom. They're at the entrance about to push open the doors when they're interrupted.
"Beth, where're you going baby?" Noah grabs her, pulling her into a hug. "God, you guys were so awesome! And Rachel, you really got a set of pipes on you."
Rachel barely manages a half-smile, nodding her thanks. She thinks God must love to torture her. Does it ever end?
"You're bummed about that mess up huh," Noah continues. "Don't worry about that little thing. It was barely noticeable and then you just went and knocked the rest of it outta the park. I mean really…"
Quinn interrupts him, touching Rachel's arm to get her attention. "Truly Rachel, you're amazing. You have a real gift."
Despite everything Rachel can't help but melt at her words. But at the same time the image of Noah's arm around Quinn is burned into her mind. "Thank you," she replies curtly, holding eye contact for only a fraction of a second.
"Oh Beth, I almost forgot, you're gonna love this. Guess who's currently the owner of a 69 Chevy Camaro?" Noah pulls keys out of his pocket, jingling them.
"No way, Dad! That's sick!"
"C'mon let me take you on a celebratory drive."
"Right now? Dad I'd love to but I can't. I've gotta drive Rachel home."
Rachel can see how much Beth wants to go. She's always had a thing for muscle cars and time with her Dad was like a precious metal. "No Beth, don't worry about me. My Dads can just give me a ride."
"Really Rach? Thanks so much! I'll see you later." Beth hugs her and then heads off with her parents, who also bid her farewell.
It's then that Rachel realizes that she never saw her Dads in the audience. Of course, she had been pretty preoccupied the whole time. She figures they must have had to leave early for some reason.
"Well that's just great." Rachel pushes the entrance door open and steps out into the night. It's chilly and she shivers a little, rubbing her bare arms. Her house isn't too far away but it's enough of a trek to be disheartening.
She begins to walk across the parking lot, humming aloud to keep her mind off the cold. The sound of a horn behind her causes Rachel to jump. A slightly familiar blue Toyota Corolla pulls up beside her. The driver's window rolls down and Rachel finds herself looking at Quinn. "Rachel, do you need a ride?"
Rachel stares at her. She doesn't know how to make herself learn. Looking at Quinn only leads to bad things. Rachel opens her mouth, the syllables for no already formed. She just wants to be done with it all, find a nice boy to like who can like her back. She wants normal, aches for it. But the damage is done and Quinn's hazel eyes draw her in and trap her like a spider's web. All she can do is nod her head and get in the car.