Rachel spent most of her time the next few days with Mike. They went out to eat, walked around parks, watched movies at the others houses. She barely saw anyone else while she was there, and she realized she was content with that.

More than content with that.

Her feelings for Mike weren't as startling as they might have been if she didn't know herself better. But she knew all of her qualities-good and bad-and realized that she was falling for Mike. She refused to let herself act on it though, knowing this was more than likely a rebound thing, her feelings being built out of a need to be loved and appreciated and his kind nature supplied that without hesitation. So she kept quiet about it, instead filling Mike in on tales of her time in New York and listening to his own about Chicago.

The day before she was set to leave, the two ran into Santana at the diner they had been frequenting every morning. "Berry, Chang," Santana greeted, sliding into the booth next to Rachel and stealing a corner of her toast as she moved over to make room for Santana.

"Morning Santana," Rachel said, vaguely irritated that she had interrupted Mike's story about his last relationship, as demanded by Rachel as payback for making her tell hers.

"What have you two lovebirds been up to all week?" Santana asked nonchalantly, ignoring both Mike and Rachel's cheeks flushing as she stole the entire piece of toast from Rachel's plate.

"We're not-" Rachel tried at the same time as Mike went "We're just friends," but Santana just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I'm sure even if anything happened it'd be the most boring relationship in the history of anything. What are you even still doing here Berry? I thought you were only staying a few days?"

Rachel glared as Santana continued to chew on her toast, but answered her nonetheless. "I leave tomorrow morning."

"Well, maybe we should have one last get together. I know the perfect place," Santana grinned, causing Rachel to worry as Santana stole her phone and put the address in for her. "Show up there around, let's say 10pm. I'll tell the rest of the group." She didn't even say goodbye before she stood up and headed for the register, grabbing a bag full of carry out containers and walking out the door.

"So I guess we're all getting together again tonight?" Mike joked, going back to his pancakes.

"Apparently," Rachel sighed, not sure if she was up for another night that involved alcohol and the old glee club. She had a vague feeling she didn't have much of a choice in the matter though.


Rachel found herself at a small bar just outside of Lima later that night, and it seemed Santana had managed to round everyone up. Even though it wasn't a karaoke bar, people kept going up on a makeshift stage and singing loudly to the music, Rachel ignoring her decision to stay sober the night before she flew once more when Quinn brought her a shot.

"Drink up Berry!" Santana said, handing her another. She laughed, accepting the drinks and searching the room for Mike. They had arrived together before the guys immediately pulled him away, the girls standing mostly around the bar like they were all back in some sort of middle school stand off-the girls versus the boys. It was more than a little ridiculous, but Rachel knew it was for the best if Mike wasn't around her. She was more than a little handsy if she was drunk, especially if she had feelings for someone, and she didn't want to ruin this new friendship that they were building.

It took another hour or so before everyone was mixed in with everyone, Tina on Artie's lap and Quinn swaying off of Puck, Blaine sitting next to Rachel as they watched their friends around them.

"Whenever we all get together, it's like we never even left high school," she commented, Blaine chuckling next to her.

"I think we'll always all be the same people we were back then when we're together," he shrugged, and she looked at him sadly.

"We're not the same at all though," she replied, and he frowned, looking at her seriously.

"I know," he nodded, patting her hand gently. "I know you've grown a lot since high school-since college even."

"You mean she doesn't steal peoples boyfriends anymore?" Kurt half-joked as he intruded on them, both Rachel and Blaine rolling their eyes.

"No, I don't do that anymore," Rachel responded.

"Well, word on the street is you have an eye for Mike these days."

"Word on the street?" Rachel tried to evade, but now both Blaine and Kurt were staring at her. "What?" she exclaimed, trying to sip her drink and ignore both of them.

"You do like him," Blaine teased gently, Kurt rolling his eyes.

"No shit, the two of them have been looking at each other all night. Chang's denied it, because he doesn't want to keep her here. What's your reason for avoiding it?" Kurt explained, turning to Rachel.

"I'm not avoiding anything," she retorted haughtily, sighing for dramatic effect when they both continued to stare at her, waiting for an explanation. "Fine, okay, but it's not a big deal, okay? Mike has been a great guy this week. He's been a great friend. But we all know what happens as soon as a guy starts being too nice to me, especially when I'm still upset about someone else."

"You make out with them?" Blaine questioned, wincing when she reached over and hit him.

"I fall for them. And Mike's too nice of a guy to end up being my rebound from Paul, I don't want to hurt him," she said, Kurt nodding in agreement.

"I say if you have feelings for him, go for it," Blaine shrugged, Kurt shooting him a glare.

"Of course you do," Kurt snapped. "But, Rach, you're an adult now. You can't just go around hurting everyone for a few days of fun. Besides, you're leaving tomorrow. Where could it even go for you two?"

"I know Kurt," she replied warily before the two could erupt in an argument. The three of them may have gotten along reasonably well in New York, but clearly Blaine hadn't been lying when he said they reverted back to their high school ways when everyone was together. "Why do you think I haven't done anything about it?"

She didn't have to worry about Kurt's smug look and Blaine's argument as Santana grabbed her and Kurt and dragged them to the makeshift dance floor, Blaine trailing after them as they reached the group of their friends all moving like crazy. The only two who seemed to have relatively decent moves were Mike and Brittany, a fact that shocked no one. It also didn't stop them from letting loose, everyone dancing with everyone else.

It wasn't long before Rachel found herself dancing with Mike, ignoring Kurt's glare and Blaine's thumbs up as the two moved together. It was nothing but harmless dancing she figured, something she did all the time with her friends. There was no reason for this to be any different, for her to feel a jolt of electricity when his hands rested themselves on her hips, for her to find herself staring into his eyes and fighting the urge to kiss him.

"Rachel," he said quietly, and she barely acknowledged that they had stopped moving, everything was moving so fast, everyone around them oblivious as Mike moved closer to her, her breathing practically stopped as his lips grazed hers, not quite a kiss, but not quite not. It was like he was asking if it was okay, and she so badly wanted to say yes, please, it's more than okay, regardless that she knew it was a bad idea.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, sucking her bottom lip in to gnaw on it for a second before she decided fuck it and pulled his head to hers, kissing him with everything she had.

She heard cheers from around them, presumably Blaine while Kurt sulked, but Mike was a good kisser-better than she had expected, certainly- and she didn't care much beyond that. She was content to stay right there, in the middle of some dive bar, kissing Mike forever, when someone around them mentioned New York, snapping her attention back to reality.

She was leaving the next morning.

Mike would be stuck in Lima.

Long distance relationships were even harder than normal ones.

"I'm sorry," she said, and she saw confusion cross his face before she kissed his cheek, mumbling another soft apology before she darted out the door.

It's better this way, she told herself as she started walking until she was sure she could call a cab without being noticed. Neither of us will end up hurt this way.