Chibi-Kari: I didn't realize how many people would like this! Well I wanted to work with what I saw in the previews for this next episode, but wanted it out before then. So I've pushed this out. I like the minimalist approach that this is turning out to be, but I think I will be adding more dialogue. What do you guys think? Oh... and I still don't own.

Shimmer

Rachel sat in her room her music flowing over her. Her daddies were at another party leaving her to herself. She was responsible and made good decisions so they had no trouble leaving her. But she wasn't sure her decisions were right anymore. Every one of them seemed to be wrong. She leaned back against the end of her perfect four post bed leaning her head back against the side of the mattress. Everything was a mess. She could barely stand looking at her pristine room. She closed her eyes tightly as she got lost in the song playing. It was one of her favourites. Everyone thought she only listened to pop or Broadway, but she had her secret collection of rock. Where did everyone think she pulled the All American Rejects from? She could only guess they thought that it was popular enough that she would have heard of it. God knew every other time someone in the group talked rock and she tried to join the conversation they told her not to worry about it. She was stereotyped in her own group. Two dimensional in their minds. She could only really like Broadway because that was who she wanted to be so she couldn't possibly approve of anything else. If they had asked her opinion, Rock was right up there with Broadway. Most of it told a story and they were actually playing instruments, not like the over synthesized pop music on the radio today.

She sighed. Maybe singing would get her mind off of things. She smiled lightly as one of her favourite songs came flowing from her speakers. "She calls me from the cold just when I was low feeling short of stable. All that she intends and all she keeps inside isn't on the label. She says she's ashamed. Can she take me for a walk? Can I be a friend? We'll forget the past, but maybe I'm not able and I break at the bend."

She shook her head lightly. Today it didn't seem to be helping nothing seemed to be helping. She let out a rueful laugh, "All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again."

She pushed herself up from the floor and walked towards her closet. She had no friends to call. No boyfriend. Nothing. No one to talk to so she might as well go about her routine. Picking out her clothes for the next day might help. Rock music and monotony would be her saviors tonight and tomorrow she would go about her life like nothing was wrong. Ignore that Jesse hadn't spoken with her in a week. Ignore that the entire Glee club couldn't stand her. Ignore that Mr. Schuester refused to take anything that came out of her mouth seriously.

She lay for several minutes staring at her ceiling before grabbing a notepad. She would do the only thing she knew would make her feel better. Picking up her glittery pen she contemplated New Directions and what could make them better. They needed to win Regionals. She needed to win it. If she could just do that she would prove she was someone.

Her mental critique brought up her new complaint quickly. Certain members just weren't trying hard enough. She didn't want to drag them to the finish line. The entire team had to pull their weight and Mr. Schue had to see that everyone needed to step up. She hurriedly scrawled down the names. All this stress wasn't good for her or her voice. If things could just settle down then she would be fine. Everything would be fine again. She just had to keep telling herself that until it was true.

Jesse knew from the look on her face that things had gotten worse. Rachel was losing the semblance of control that she had left and it showed as soon as she opened her mouth to sing that Miley Cyrus song. Her voice cracked and sounded awful. There wasn't even a shimmer of that perfection that normally was nested somewhere hidden for people like him and Shelby to find.

His eyes widened as he watched her carryon as if she couldn't seem to believe this was happening to her. He looked around blankly as everyone else just cringed and a few members looked smug as if she had this coming. As if this wasn't partially their faults. Partially his fault. Finally, Mr. Schue stepped up and put a stop to it calmly stating that she lost her voice and that was it. Well after he assigned Finn to bring her to the doctor. Jesse internally sneered. It should have been him. He should have held her hand at the doctor. Hell, he should have stopped this from even happening.

He fisted his hand as Mr. Schue called Mercedes and Santana up to sing as Finn escorted Rachel out of the room. Jesse almost couldn't believe the disregard the entire group had for her. It was too much. And having Finn that close to his girlfriend, they hadn't quite broken up, was unnerving. The only thing that idiot wanted to do was have Rachel for himself. All because she stroked his ego and was a keeper. All he would do was hurt her like he had before.

Jesse closed his eyes and leaned back. He had to talk to Shelby. She would put things in perspective for him. She always did. She joked it was the mothering in her. Of course it was commonly covered up with the slave driver portion of her personality. She was driven yet just as giving when it came to advice. Actually, she was a lot like Rachel in her personality, only she had the confidence the younger girl lacked. But before he did that he'd have to talk to Rachel. To end this limbo and take her back. She was going to be Jesse's girl for a while longer and if he had anything to say about it… forever.

Shelby hadn't expected Jesse to show up next to her during one of the rehearsals.

"There's too much shimmer on the girls' outfit. It's like watching a star explode… and not in a good way." Jesse commented quietly, more out of habit than meaning.

It was in that moment that she knew something was wrong. Jesse was never this quiet during a critique and he missed the five second delay of the first row during their last spin.

"We're done for today. Left side get the spins right. I want you to practice five hundred right now. Right side, go." She dismissed them with a wave of the hand before turning to Jesse. "What's going on?"

He shook his head lightly and this worried Shelby. She had never seen him so downtrodden. "She's lost her voice."

Shelby felt her eyes widen. There were a few reasons little starlets like Rachel lost their voices and all of those were completely avoidable minus sickness. But that could be avoided 99 percent of the time, as all the members of VA knew. With the right amount of vitamin C things like that could almost be avoided, "How?"

"Stress. She'll get it back I'm sure. I've tried to stabilize her life a bit again." Jesse looked away guiltily and Shelby could read him like a book.

"And how would that be?"

"We had a bit of a fight, but I've made amends. The rest of the stress is from that glee club." Jesse sneered slightly. It wasn't a look she had seen on the boy and she hoped it was one she wouldn't see again.

"Just stick to the plan, Jesse. Things will get better when you're back here." Yes it was true she worked her club, but she worked them only as hard as they could go and not a step harder. All those rumours that spread were just that. None of her kids worked until they threw up. Okay, Jenna did that one time, but she had the stomach flu and was told she was allowed to sit on the sidelines and watched, but she chose to practice. These kids loved winning. They loved their team. They loved what they were doing. The club shouldn't be a burden to them. It should be a haven.