As soon as Rachel exits Finn's truck, she starts moving on autopilot. Thankfully, she has gone on several weekend trips to New York with her dads, so she manages to navigate herself to the correct gate without much thought.

Once Rachel finally gets settled on the plane, she realizes that she feels colder than she has all summer. Maybe it's just the air conditioner on the plane or maybe she's missing the warmth she's been feeling since Finn's declaration of love. For a fleeting moment, she wishes he was there to put his arm around her. Then she remembers it all over again.

"Finn slept with Santana."

That simple fact changed everything about Rachel's relationship with Finn. Their month together this summer had surpassed any expectations she had had for them. She had really believed that they were more than just a summer romance. They had been circling each other for months. Now that she thought about it, though, a summer fling was all their relationship was. Maybe that's all it was meant to be. The pieces fit after all. Baggage that, for the most part, was avoided at all costs: check. Time in spent in the vacuum of summer vacation: check. Intrusion by the real world: check. Now that the real world was forcing itself upon them, it seems as though they are going to fall apart, the trademark of a summer fling.

And that hurt her more than a summer fling ever should.

…

"Are you alright, honey?" the older woman sitting next to Rachel interrupted her train of thought.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Rachel answered with a slight sniffle.

"You've been staring at the back of that man's head crying for about twenty minutes. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. But elderly strangers on buses always have the best advice in the movies. Maybe that rule also applies to airplanes." Rachel thought.

"I, um, just found out that my boyfriend cheated on me. Well sort of cheated on me." She started.

"Did he or didn't he? There's no 'sort of' when it comes to these types of things." The woman's friend piped up, only to be shushed by her friend.

"I mean he was with another girl before we started dating, but he had already told me that he wanted to be with me. And I was still dating my ex-boyfriend at the time, so that has a lot to do with it too."

"So while he was trying to win you over, he also had this other girl on the side?" the friend asked.

"Basically. But he also lied about it. After it happened, he told me that he decided to wait for the right person, whom I presumed to be me. Then today, the other girl asks him if he wants to do it again, and that's the only reason he told me what really happened. He said he was just waiting for the right time to tell me, but it should have come up by now, right?"

"I don't know sweetie. But I wouldn't be too hard on him if I were you. You didn't have a claim on him at the time, and you're too young to spend the rest of your life bitter over something like that." the woman told her.

"Don't say that. Once a cheater, always a cheater." her friend protested.

"Don't let your own personal life interfere with this young lady's. She was with another boy and…" the older women started arguing while Rachel started debating with herself about whether what Finn had done could be considered cheating. Half an hour later, she decided that, no, he really wasn't cheating because she had been with Jesse, after all. It was just the lie that she couldn't get past.

She could understand why he had initially wanted her to think that it had happened. She could understand why, after it happened, he would be embarrassed about it. If she really tried, she could even understand why he did it with her in the first place. What she couldn't understand was the lie. He'd had a month's worth of chances to tell her the truth, but only did so when confronted with that awful text from her.

It wasn't until halfway through the flight that Rachel remembered to be angry at Santana for her part in this whole mess.

Rachel didn't even know what to think about Santana Lopez. She knew all along that the celibacy club was just a ruse, but to approach Finn with the offer to take his virginity just to make somebody jealous was beyond anything she could imagine. Then to proposition him again, after he had gotten the girl he was trying to make jealous in the first place, was just pathological.

"I suppose I can't really blame him for Santana being Santana. And I can't be too mad at him over something that happened before we got together. It took us so long to get to where we are and we've already been through so much. First he was with Quinn and she was pregnant. Then I was with Jesse and he was just a pretty façade. Surely we can make it through this too. I should talk to him now that I've calmed down." She thought as the plane made its descent toward the runway.

"You might want to buckle up." The woman next to Rachel told her.

"Oh. Thanks. Are we already there? That was faster than I remember."

"Well you've had a lot to think about. How are you feeling about everything now?"

"I'm not happy that it happened, but I know I can't be mad at him for doing what he did before we were together. I am mad at him for lying to me though, but I think we'll be alright."

"I'm glad to hear that." The woman said.

"Make sure you give him a little hell before you let him off the hook though." The friend said, causing Rachel to laugh at the memory of her impromptu performance of Gives You Hell.

"I will. Thank you so much for listening to my silly problems, I'm sorry, I never got your names."

"I'm Devorah and this is my friend Anne" The woman sitting next to Rachel said.

"I'm Rachel, Rachel Berry. So what are you going to New York for?"

"My niece just started in a show on Broadway and we're going to see her perform." Anne explained.

"Really? I'm going to make it to Broadway some day. What show is she in?"

"Spring Awakening."

"Oh, I love that show. What role?"

"Wendla. Is that a good role? She won't tell me anything about the show or her role."

"It's a great role. She's one of the first on my list to play when I move to New York. Prepare to be a little shocked though."

"Really? Why?" Devorah asked.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise, now do I?" Rachel grinned.

"You young people are impossible." Anne joked as the pilot came on over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived on time in New York City. The temperature outside is 72 degrees Fahrenheit and it is partly cloudy. Looks like a perfect day to take in the city. The crew and I would like to thank you for choosing United Airlines. Have a great day."

"Well it was nice meeting you two." Rachel said as they all gathered their things to leave.

"You too," Anne said, "I'll be sure to tell my niece to look out for you when you go to steal her role."

"Oh, I'm sure she will have moved on by the time I get there. I still have two years of high school to finish before I can do anything. Well, thanks again for listening to my problems." Rachel said as she stood up to leave.

"Oh you're welcome, sweetheart. Now go call that boy of yours and make things right." Devorah said.

"I will." Rachel said before making her way down the narrow aisle.

…

Rachel had little trouble locating both her luggage and the van driver for her theater group. The driver told her that she was the first to arrive and that they had about fifteen minutes to kill before the other members of the group started arriving. Rachel decided to take the opportunity to call Finn. He answered after the first ring.

"Rach, hi. You made it to New York alright? I'm glad you called."

"Yes. I'm just at the airport waiting for the rest of my group to arrive."

"Oh. So… how are you doing?" Finn asked slowly, afraid of the answer.

"I'm still pretty upset, but I think I'll be okay. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me sooner, but I understand-" Rachel started, but stopped when she heard a female voice on the other line.

"Is that her? Hi, Rachel!" Santana yelled in the background.

"Damn it, Santana. Why would you do something like that? Rachel, I swear it's not what you think." Finn tried to explain, only to realize that he was talking to dead air.