Authors Note: I have bought England. Kidding! I wanted to thank everybody for the reviews and especially for the constructive criticism. As for now I do have a beta. But being stressed she send me the wrong document back. And since I'm lazy by birth I didn't really check it over. Or put much effort in spelling or grammar while writing. Anyways. I will figure it out. If she has to much to do, maybe I can take someone of you up on the offer to beta.

Please enjoy. I hope the days of written suckitude are over!

For the first time in years Rachel didn't get up when the alarm rang. For the first time in years she could find the spirit to go through her daily routine. She dreaded going to school. But she dreaded even more going to Glee. Over the last couple of weeks it had been harder and harder to forget or ignore all the little side jabs the Glee Kids gave her. To let her know again and again that they didn't need her. Which was wrong. If they wanted to win Regionals, they did need her. But they didn't want her. And that hurt a lot more then not being needed.

Rachel felt like the break up with Jesse had opened a can of worms. And even though she desperately tried to close the can and get the worms back in, she couldn't. They were crawling out and with them every little hurt and rejection she had to face since joining Glee.

So she had cried herself to sleep last night. And now she felt too drained to get up. One missed work-out session wouldn't be the end of the world.

He looked amazing. His hair, his smile. Everything about him was just right. He was laughing about something stupid Kurt had said. Seemed to be radiant. Like everything was okay. For a moment Rachel felt bitter. The thought that he had just moved on like this, hurt her. Didn't he say that she had broken his heart? He was awfully chipper considering that. While she felt more and more broken everyday. But then again, maybe it helped that Santana was throwing herself against him. Judging by his flirty smiles, he definitely wasn't against it. (Then again, this was sexy Santana who never said no. So go figure. All that was missing now was a Wiggles Concert).

And it probably helped too that the hearts of the Glee club members flew to him like he was magnetic. For him everything seemed fine. He was doing well. And she was doing worse then Britney Spears as an actress. Two weeks had passed since the break up. And not once she had laughed since then. And that was something she hated. Rachel Berry had always been a happy person. But right now she felt like this part of her personality had been flushed way by crying one too many times.

Something had after all, broken her stride.

Rachels hand was trembling. This was her third attempt at knocking at Mr. Schues door and again she was about to chicken out. But she knew that it was inevitable. It had to be done. Because going on like this was not an option. So she used a trick that had helped her with a lot of roller coaster rides.

'When you see the abyss close your eyes and hold your breath. Find something to hold onto, even if it is your own skirt.'

She tightly clutched the hem of her skirt, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and knocked at the door.

'Come in!'

Reluctantly Rachel opened the door and broke a smile to Mr. Schue. He didn't need to know all.

'Rachel! What can I do for you?' Mr. Schue asked with a fake smile and an even faker concern. Rachels pondered for a second whether he really ever wondered how he could not make it big. She had a list of reason at the top of her mind. And his crap acting wasn't even in the top ten.

'Past the point of no return, the final threshold. The bridge has crossed, so stand and watched it burn. We past the point of no return.' Nothing to build your resolve like the Phantom of the opera.

'I want to quit Glee club!' Will Schuester reacted just the way Rachel had anticipated it. Mock concern, wonder, shock, horror. Apparently they did need her after all. Mr. Schue took a moment to collect himself. Then he cleared his throat and faced her again.

'Rachel, Regionals are coming up. Why would you quit now?'

Rachel shook her head. He probably wouldn't understand. 'I'm not feeling it right now."

Mr. Schuester glared at her: 'Do you think when you working on Broadway you can just undermine a production, because 'you are not feeling it right now?'. And what about your team members? I thought you wanted to be part of a team? Or was that just for show?'

'My team members will probably have a farewell party. Without me, of course. They also assured me more then once, that they didn't need me.'

Her teacher glanced at her approvingly (like she had finally found her place – all the way in the back). Which was just wrong but very much like him. 'Your team mates are over confident because they won the Sectionals under extreme circumstances. They all have talent. And they like what they do. But you are the best of them Rachel. You know that.'

Rachel watched him as he seemed to muster up some courage. She started to feel kind of like crying.

'We need you Rachel. Please don't do this. Don't do this to your friends.' Rachel felt tears pricking in her eyes. But crying in front of Mr. Schuester would have been like a nightmare come true. So she swallowed them back. Tried to talk evenly even though her eyes were stinging.

'I can't Mr. Schuester. I don't have anything to sing about anymore.' She got up, when she saw that he wanted to argue some more: 'Anyways, you will just be fine. You have Mercedes. And Jesse. They are both great. Nothing to worry about. If you excuse me now, I still have stuff to do.'

With a strangled sob, Rachel fled from his office before Mr. Schuester could say something to hold her back. The adrenaline that had powered her was fading away. At loss for what to do next, she went to the empty auditorium, sat next to the piano and cried.

If this was a joke, Jesse couldn't laugh about it. Rachel had quit Glee. He should be overjoyed. Ecstatic. Without Rachel, her voice and her drill New Directions had absolutely no chance against Vocal Adrenaline. They would hack each other to pieces for solos. And Mr. Schuester was too weak to do anything against it. All he had to do was to go back to Vocal Adrenaline and his mission was completed. The enemy was destroyed. But instead of joy Jesse felt a huge hole in his stomach. Rachel wasn't a quitter. Rachel was a fighter. Who could take it all to reach her goal of stardom.

'But why would she quit Mr. Shue' Artie asked and adjusted his glasses 'Regionals are coming up.' 'Maybe someone knocked some taste into her, and she fell into a deep depression after she reviewed her clothing style up till now.' Kurt quipped before he high-fived Mercedes. Most of the other laughed too. Except for Finn, (who looked dopey-confused as always) and Puck.

Leaning back Puck addressed Mr. Schue: 'But seriously. Why would she quit? She knows that Regionals are coming up. She knows we need her. Why would she just dump us.'

'It is not like we really need her.' Kurt shot back 'Mercedes and I can sing the solo parts. It will be a piece of cake.'

Jesse had to admit that both, Mercedes and Kurt, were talented. But they could not muster up to Rachel who did not only have a lot of talent but also the right training. Regionals was a disaster in the making. And that somehow comforted Jesse. Like they would receive their punishment for treating Rachel like crap. For choosing him over her. Even though she was the one willing to give it all up for them.

And he was the one out to destroy them.

Rachel had not only quit Glee. She didn't come to the ballet classes either. Not to Jazz dance, vocal coaching or acting class. If Jesse hadn't seen her sometimes in the hall ways, he would have thought that she had fallen of the edge of the world. But he saw her now and then. And everyday it felt a little more like he was looking at a stranger. He wanted to talk to her. Maybe even comfort her, but he couldn't. What he had done was cruel already. He had set out to seduce her. He had smiled and kissed her. And then he had played on her like she was a violin. Now that everything was over he knew that he had to let her go. Even trying to get her back would cross the line from mean to down right evil and perverted. She would get over him. Soon Finn would have gotten over his anger (For what ever he was still angry at right now.) and then she would turn back to him. Everything would turn back to normal and everything would be okay.

But until Regionals he had to play his part. He had to smile and go on. Flirt with Santana (As if. The girl wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between Leonard Bernstein and Leonard Cohen if she was beaten up with the music sheets)! Nurture Kurts ego! Be friends with them. They would lose at Regionals. Then everything would be fine. And even though he didn't expect it, he hoped that Rachel would forgive him one day. That she wouldn't look back with complete disgust on their relationship.

At first she had only felt too tired to get up extra early to do her routines. But with her goal gone straining herself like that felt futile. Why demand the very last from yourself when it was for the naught anyways.

After a while doing her hair and make up with her usual perfection felt dreading and useless. So she just applied some Mascara and Lipstick. Figured that putting her hair into a bun would be sufficient. No need to impress anyone. But she can't let herself go completely. She needed a little bit of the old Rachel. If only for her dads. Just the thought of them disappointed made Rachel wince. They had done so much for them. They wanted it all. And she wanted to give them everything. And now, since it felt like she had nothing else to give, at least she wanted keep up the pretense.

Being at school was a lot easier then being at home. And for the first time Rachel was thankful that no one took notice of her. She didn't need an audience while she was falling apart. And nobody noticed.

Mr. Webber her English teacher shot her the stink eye once. Because she got a C in an assignment. Her first C. Up until now, she had always had A. But nowadays she couldn't bring herself to learn. She waited for a moment a feeling of distraught but realized that she could not bring herself to care. But when she was at home, she buried her face into her pillows and wept.