Old Times' Sake: Re-written

xxx

When Elsie woke up the next morning she felt like she was somewhere different. She could feel the small ray of sun slipping through the curtains hit her across her bare arm. She sat up and took in her surroundings, not entirely sure of where she was. She stepped out of bed and had a look around. The room she was in looked like somewhere strawberry shortcake would live. The happenings of the night before were a blur to Elsie. All she could remember was that she had made a spur of the moment decision to get on a plane and fly to Ohio. An interesting destination for a holiday…

"Rachel's house!" she exclaimed, finally remembering where she was. She laughed as she fully took in where she was.

"Wow Rachel was such a loser, look at all this stuff". It surprised even Elsie to see just how much Rachel had grown up since the first time she met her.

Elsie was a fairly confident, and not to mention good looking, blonde girl who could not be more excited to start her first semester at Julliard. It was something she had been dreaming of her whole life, but never had any doubt she would get in. Where she came from she was a child prodigy and everyone knew she was going to go big places. She was however, slightly anxious about meeting her new roommate, she was going to be living with this person for a year, maybe longer, and she had heard some crazy stories from her older siblings (two older brothers and an older sister).

Her sister had lived for a year with some crazy Goth who brought back creepy men to their dorm everyone night, and her oldest brother lived with this guy who slept with any girl he could find and ended up steeling his girlfriend, and the next year lived with a gay guy that tried to come onto him... on numerous occasions. Elsie thought that she probably wouldn't mind the latter though, not that she was a lesbian, or even bi-sexual for that matter, but she was... bi-curious you could say. The optimistic side of Elsie then kicked in and decided that maybe she'll have a really cool chick and they could become best friends, maybe. Little did she know that, that was exactly what would happen.

She opened the door to the room that her orientation booklet told her belonged to her and a girl named Rachel Berry. Rachel was a nice name she thought. When she walked into the room she saw a semi-good looking brunette girl clearly lost in thought as she unpacked her clothes into her wardrobe. Elsie stopped for a moment to look at her. This girl's wardrobe was crazy; all she had were ugly granny sweaters and plaid skirts.Snap out of it Elsie, she thought, she shouldn't be so judgemental, this girl could actually be really sweet, and everyone had flaws, especially her.

"Hi I'm Elsie... You're roommate" Elsie confidently said as she held out a hand to the girl, not entirely sure whether giving the girl a hug was too overbearing. The girl looked up slightly startled and the placed a beaming smile right across her face and gave Elsie an enthusiastic hug., "Oh great, I'm so glad you here, I've been so looking forward to meeting you! I'm Rachel" The girl said with utter confidence.Wow, was Elsie's initial thought, she immediately loved this girls confidence... who cares about her clothes and the fact she practically acts like a fifteen year old.

Elsie laughed while letting out a sigh of relief, "Me too! I was actually a little nervous, which is funny 'cause I never get nervous... So what classes are you taking this semester? I presume you're doing a bachelor of music like me?" Elsie asked with actual interest. "Yes I am, I think they room the music students together, dance students together, drama students together etc. But um my major is voice, and then I'm taking classical ballet, jazz studies, composition, and theatre studies, how about you?"

"Oh my God, I'm doing jazz studies and composition too! I'm majoring in piano, but I'm doing a vocal class as a supplement, and then I have classical studies and keyboard skills. Elsie enthusiastically told her. "Fantastic! That's so great that I'll know someone in two of my classes" Rachel said smilingly.

By the end of the semester the girls were inseparable and they applied to be roommates for the following year. Rachel even transferred from classical ballet to classical studies so they would have an extra class together. And just for fun the girls joined a hip hop class out of school (even if it was against college rules).

Elsie had been day dreaming for so long that she hadn't even given herself time to wonder why the hell she was alone and where the hell Rachel was. She walked down the stairs to find Rachel without taking in her appearance first. When she reached the kitchen she found Rachel standing over the stove making pancakes. "Good morning sunshine" Rachel said with a wink, "Oh sweetie you have eye make up all over your face! Come here mummy will fix it." Rachel was known for her maternal instincts. "Oh shit I totally forgot about the crying part of last night... what would I do without you?" Elsie joked, but she really didn't know what she would do without her.

The girls sat and ate their pancakes while Rachel listened to Elsie talk. Rachel thought it was the right thing for Elsie to do; she needed to get everything out of her system, so she could move on. "Do you still love him?" Rachel asked. "No" she sullenly answered, "I haven't for a while, I think I've been lying to myself for so long, but what Ethan told me last night just awakened me. Don't get me wrong I'm not glad it happened, he's a sleaze and I don't want to ever be friends with him again." Rachel nodded and listened as she let Elsie vent. After an hour or so, Rachel spoke up "You know what we need to do? Make over our lives, we have both just been screwed by our guys; let's move on from this together, we are going to live our lives to the fullest like we always have! What do you think?" "Sounds perfect to me" Elsie smiled and Rachel and was so thankful for her friendship with Rachel.

The girl's moment was interrupted by Rachel's phone ringing. "Hello, Berry residence" Rachel answered. "Hey girly it's Quinn!"

"Hey sweetie, what's up?" Rachel cheerily asked.

"Well I would like to know how your date went last night! But firstly I would like to invite you over to dinner tonight; Puck had to cancel last night so we're having dinner at ours tonight instead." Quinn happily asked.

"I'd love to but I have Elsie over at the moment, do you mind if she comes?" Rachel asked.

"Oh of course not, I haven't seen her since I was last in New York it'll be great to see her again." "Great!" Rachel exclaimed.

"So... How was the date?" Quinn persisted.

Rachel told her how she possibly did still have romantic feelings for Will, and how she had to leave the date early, and then explained everything that happened with Elsie,

"Oh the poor girl!" Quinn sympathetically answered.

"Well I better get going, lots to do over here... So I'll see you at our house at seven?"

"You sure will, see you then love."

After chatting on the phone for about twenty minutes Rachel returned to Elsie.

"Hey Els, that was Quinn, she's invited us over for dinner tonight... It's not too soon for you is it?" "Of course not Ray, I can't wait to see her and Finn again!"

"Oh and by the way, I'm meeting up with an old friend on Thursday night, you don't mind coming do you?"

xxx

It was almost 7.30pm when Puck exclaimed "God damn, where the fuck are they, I want to eat now! I thought Rachel was known for her punctuality." This pissed Quinn off, he had no idea what Rachel was like now, and clearly didn't seem to care about Quinn's friendship with her.

"Puck come the hell down, your stomach can wait. And besides she's better known for fashionable lateness these days anyway" She said snapping at him.

"So what's this friend of hers like anyway?" Puck asked, "Is she as crazy as Rachel? I wonder whether Rachel is just as crazy as she always was... or worse!" he mocked. Secretly though, Puck had always found her sexy in a weird way that quite frankly freaked him out. She defiantly wasn't his type.

"Nah man Elsie's pretty cool, Quinn and I have met her quite a few times, and shut up about Rachel man." Finn told Puck plainly, "And Rachel isn't crazy, just wait till you see her..." Quinn almost aggressively added.

"Pfff what's that supposed to mean?" Puck slurred, rolling his eyes. Their idiotic conversation was interrupted then by the doorbell causing Quinn to rush to the door while tunefully shouting "I'll get it!"

Quinn opened the door to find Rachel and Elsie, both dressed in their finest. "Girls! Fashionably late as always" she said jokingly rolling her eyes and giving them both a hug. "Come in, come in, it's so great to see you Elsie!" As Quinn and Elsie quickly caught up on what they've been up to, Rachel strolled into the house to say hello to Finn. "Finn!" She almost screams as she ran up and gave him a hug, which was generously returned by Finn.

When Puck first sees Rachel he doesn't recognise her. He saw a beautiful looking brunette walk through the room and thought, shit Rachel's friend looks like a fucking model. Jeez how did Rachel ever become friends with someone like that? It wasn't until he saw an equally beautiful blonde haired girl who defiantly wasn't Rachel walking into the room chatting to Quinn that he thought hold on...

"Rachel long time, you look great!" Matt said in a surprising tone, interrupting Puck's thoughts. "Oh thanks, it's great to see you guys, I don't think I've seen you and Noah since high school..."She trailed off awkwardly. She looked over at Elsie and realised she hadn't introduced her yet, "Oh guys this is my friend, Elsie." Elsie smiled and waved, merely being polite. "And Noah, who is that lovely lady sitting next to you?" Puck had to snap himself out of his head; he should definitely not be having sexual thoughts about Rachel, especially with his wife sitting right next to him. "Oh yeah this is my wife Joanne..." Puck said with a certain lack of interest. "Nice to meet you" the lady coarsely said as she looked Rachel up and down. As their small group stood there for a several moments chatting Rachel noticed to things. One, Elsie was getting awfully friendly with Matt Rutherford, and Two, Puck looked angrily perplexed.

"Okay everyone take a seat, I'm going to go get drinks." Quinn told them, "Rach, Elsie, what can I get you?" "I'll have a vodka soda thanks" Rachel said, "Oh make that two" Elsie added. "Great, I'll just be a minute" Quinn said while running off happily to the kitchen with a smile on her face. She is way too happy, Rachel thought.

Elsie sat herself down at the end of the table with Rachel on one side and Matt on the other. Quinn sat down next to Rachel so the two could chat about the whole Will saga, and Finn sat down next to her. Puck was opposite Rachel, in between his wife and Matt. He couldn't stop looking at her. He hoped it wasn't obvious. It wasn't long before Puck couldn't hold himself back from talking to her. "So Rach…" he began, "I hear you're a big star now." He asked as he felt himself becoming more and more interested in this alluring woman he hardly recognised.

Rachel blushed, "Well not really..." she really didn't want to show off tonight, but before she had a chance to stop it Elsie had butted in, "Oh shut up Ray. She's so modest, she totally is. She performed at the Tonys and she's practically friends with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth..."

"Can you shut up?" Rachel said half laughing half aggressively. "We're not here to talk about me." Not being able to think of anything else to say Rachel looked around the room and hovered over Noah's wife for a moment. "So Noah, where did you two meet?" she said while smiling and looking at Joanne and Noah.

"Noah and I met in a nightclub... we hit it off right away!" Joanne told Rachel, but it seemed to Rachel that Joanne was clearly hiding something. She was also surprised that Joanne called him Noah, when everyone she knew called him Puck. The only reason she did, was because she knew it pissed him off when they were in high school, and since she'd never called him by Puck before it would be silly to start now. For the rest of the night the group chatted away (mostly about Quinn and Finn's upcoming wedding) while they ate Quinn's delicious cooking.

Quinn had asked Rachel more about how things went with Will the previous night, which Rachel was slightly embarrassed talking about in present company, so she kept her voice low. It was just before dessert when Quinn quieted everyone down to make an announcement.

"Rachel, There's something that is very important that I wasn't to ask you tonight." She started. Rachel felt nervous for some reason; Quinn was not usually so serious like this. "We've been friends for a long time, and you've seen me through some of my darkest times. It would be my honour for you to be one of my bridesmaids, if you would accept." As Quinn finished she looked nervous, and anxious to see how Rachel would react. Although it had been such along time since they'd been enemies at school, sometimes from time to time Rachel would forget how close they'd become and would have a happy feeling of 'oh yes' that amazing person is my friend. She hadn't realised Quinn treasured their friendship just as much as she did. She was astonished to be asked this of Quinn. But just as equally excited. With almost tears, she stood up to give Quinn a hug, giving her, her answer. "Of Course Q, I'm so honoured to have even be asked. I can't wait!"

xxx

On the car ride home Rachel was anxiously hoping Elsie wouldn't question her about Matt, just as they have always done when they've found a new man. But unluckily for Rachel, a few minutes into the drive home it started. "So tell me about Matt." Elsie very unsubtly said.

"Well what do you want to know?" Rachel replied while trying not to look pissed off. "Well... everything" Elsie said sort of excitedly. So Rachel did... tell her everything she knew about Matt, which admittedly wasn't much. She really must have been living under a rock during high school she thought. But then she reconsidered and realised that she was so obsessed with a certain Will Scheuster during high school it was no wonder she didn't know much about everyone else.

"Look…Els" Rachel firmly said "I saw the way you were looking at him tonight; you have to promise me you're not just going to use him as a rebound."

"You know me too well Ray" Elsie replied, "But don't worry its different this time, I really like him and honestly... I barely thought about Ethan all night"

"Okay" Rachel said smirking at the beautiful blonde in the car with her.

A moment passed where neither girl spoke and there was silence in the car. This was rare for these two girls. Elsie's mind however, was not silent. She was trying to find the right way to broach a certain subject. After deciding there was no right way to broach this subject she decided to just say it plainly.

"Hey Ray... did you happen to see the way that Noah/Puck guy was looking at you?"

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked dumbfounded.

"Oh Ray you are so oblivious. He was staring at you all night. I thought he was going to jump across the table rip your clothes off right in front of everyone" Elsie told her laughing.

"Are you serious?" Rachel rhetorically asked.

"Oh yeah... I'm fully serious. I don't know what you want to do about it but the way I see it you have two options." Elsie seriously said.

"Oh really..." Rachel pushed sarcastically.

Elsie had always had strange little theories and ideas that sometimes applied really well to the situation, but a lot of the time were just plain ridiculous. That was something Rachel loved most about her. "Yes. You can either do your best not to see him again so you don't have sex with a married man... or you fuck him." Rachel nearly lost control of the car "Elsie are you kidding me!" Rachel yelled.

"Come on Ray, when was the last time you had sex?" Shit. Rachel couldn't remember the last time, but one line Rachel would never cross was sleeping with a married man. At least that's what she told herself.

xxx

Wednesday brought Rachel and Elsie to the gym. Rachel being the fitness psycho she was, found the place on her morning run and decided the two girls should go. Rachel clearly hadn't always been this into keeping fit; she had started to work out to keep her shape for Chicago and had become obsessed; now it was a ritual. She also found that keeping fit did wonders for her vocal chords (and sex life).

"Oh my God I'm exhausted, how are you still running? You're a machine Ray!" Elsie cried as she sluggishly stepped of her own treadmill. "Ha-ha" Rachel laughed "Okay I'm done lets go have a shower!" Rachel said without showing any sign of exhaustion.

As the two girls walked towards the changing room Rachel saw him. He looked amazing. He had a tight black tank top and black running shorts on. Rachel had almost forgotten how damn sexy he was. She was desperately hoping he wouldn't see her so she wouldn't have to face him looking all sweaty in her gym gear. But Will did see her; in fact he'd seen her before she saw him. She was on the treadmill; her hair was pulled back which Will thought gave her face a really beautiful shape. She was dressed in serious exercise gear which gave Will the impression that she worked out a lot. She had this look of focus on her face yet somehow still seemed so relaxed. It impressed Will to see how hard she was working out; he had never remembered Rachel doing any type of physical activity in high school. This was just another example to Will how much the Rachel he knew had changed, but he could still see that same girl in there... somewhere.

As Will saw Rachel walking with a girl he presumed to be Elsie walking in his direction, he wasn't sure whether he should say hello or not. He decided he should. As Rachel approached him they two of them started at each other. "Hello Rachel" Will softly said as he looked from Rachel to Elsie. Rachel couldn't even manage to say hello, all she could do was smile. All of a sudden she felt like that young teenager all over again, totally mesmerised by him. She noticed Will looking at Elsie and realised they had never met. "This is my friend, Elsie" Rachel awkwardly told him. It took Elsie a moment to work out where she'd seen this man standing before her, but soon enough it hit her. "Oh my God! He's the sexy guy we saw in that club all those years ago" Elsie said breaking the awkward silence. She then realised that Rachel had a really awkward history with this man and thought perhaps she should leave them alone to chat before she made things any more awkward. "Hey I have to make a call, I'll see you in the change room in a bit." Elsie said as she walked off.

Rachel stood there embarrassed, having no idea what to say. She really hoped to God that Will wouldn't ask her anything about it. But he did. "What is she talking about?" He asked confused. Well that was it. He'd asked her, so she thought she might as well tell him.

"I...I did see you. " she said almost grimacing. "It was about a year after I graduated." She made sure she didn't look at his face she didn't want to see his reaction. Will gave out a confused laugh and asked, "Well, why didn't you say hello?" Rachel gave out her answer after numerous pauses; "Seriously? After everything that happened... I mean I'm not that nervous little girl anymore but back then... I didn't think you'd want to see me. That was pretty much the last time I thought of you since last Sunday" She lied, there had been more than a few moments that she'd spent thinking of him.

"You're wrong" Will said as he closed his eyes,

"I am?" Rachel queried.

Of course she was wrong Will thought, "I would have loved to have seen you, I've thought about you many times." He told her. Rachel smiled at this, but she needed to get out of here, this wasn't a discussion she really wanted to have. She had tried to forget the past for so long, and it was coming back to her all too quickly.

"Well I should go find Elsie, I'll see you on Thursday right? You still have to tell me where we're going"

"Oh yeah, I was thinking that new club downtown called Marleys?" Will told her

"Great. See you there."

xxx

Early on Thursday night, Rachel and Elsie began getting dressed for their night out. It's different for Rachel this time. The last time she got dressed for Will, there was a lot of thought and planning put into it. This time however she was more relaxed. With Elsie there she felt safer but she was also more looking forward to see Will than last time. This time it wouldn't be about showing off. Before the girls left they gave themselves a quick look in the mirror. Rachel was wearing a funky, colourful sleeveless dress with a high neck and Elsie wore a sexy little black dress.

"Damn we look fine" Elsie said giving Rachel a wink. Rachel laughed but she had to wonder, why was Elsie dressed in such a seductive manner?

"Well you definitely look sexy..." Rachel said "...Who are you trying to impress?" she queried.

"No one" Elsie answered trying to hide the tiny smirk forming across her lips, but Rachel had seen it. "Els...?" Rachel questioned.

"Okay well I kind of invited Matt...please don't kill me!" Elsie nervously answered her. Rachel wasn't upset or mad though. She was happy, because the thought of having some time alone with Will made her feel particularly excited.

When Will sees Rachel walk into the club he immediately takes in her appearance. She looks stunning just like she did last time, but now she looks less severe, lighter and happier. The two girls reach Will shortly after he first sees them and the three of them chat for a few minutes. It isn't long before Will understands how the two girls became friends. Although Elsie is very different to the girl Rachel was in high school, she has that exact same ambitious flame and confidence that Rachel always had.

When Matt shows up Elsie gives her goodbyes and tells them Matt is taking her somewhere else. Rachel hadn't realised they were going to leave and now she's slightly nervous to be completely alone with Will. Elsie felt a little mean for not telling Rachel she was going to leave her alone, so she sent her best friend a quick text.

Thought you two should have some alone time. I'll see you later.

It doesn't take Will long to get stuck right into conversation and to Rachel's surprise it isn't really all that awkward. In fact she is amazed at how well she can settle back into conversation with him like old times.

"So where were we last time, before we were interrupted I mean?" Will asked knowing exactly where the conversation had been left; with Rachel's hand on his.

"I'm not really sure" Rachel answered with a lie.

"Yesterday you said you were too nervous to talk to me after everything that happened" Will said, trying to push the subject. There went Rachel's newly found positivity for the night. "That was ages ago" Rachel sourly answered looking away from his face.

Will could tell Rachel was nervous about talking on this subject, but it had been enough time and whether they were still attracted to each other or not it was something they needed to talk about. "Well I thought... Ah well... Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"What's there to say? I was a stupid embarrassing adolescent who had a crush on her teacher..." Rachel trailed off, and even though she was really nervous, she was glad this conversation was coming up, after all these years.

"It wasn't just a crush Rach, you know that. And you weren't embarrassing, I was. I was just in love with you as you were with me, and I'm the one who acted like a fool I should have known better." Will said. Will Waited for Rachel to to say something but she couldn't. She hadn't noticed the tear that had slipped from her eye until she felt Will's hand brush it away from her cheek. "I guess I forgot how much you mean to me" she told him and gave a small smile.

Will took Rachel's hand and led her down to the dance floor. "Come on" he said at her reluctance, for old times' sake" he said. Rachel danced close into him not losing his eye contact once; she could feel herself becoming very aroused by him, and it scared her slightly. All of a sudden they were kissing and it was passionate and hot and it made Rachel feel like she hadn't in the longest amount of time. As their kiss ended, Will brought his hands to the side of face, cherishing her, and never wanting this night to end.

xxx

Elsie was making coffee in the kitchen when Rachel got home. Her father's were already asleep, which made her sad. She had had such a special night but felt like she hadn't spend enough time with them since she'd come back to Lima. She was however eager to see if Elsie's night has been as wonderful as hers.

"Hey you" Elsie said smiling. It was apparent that her night had, in fact gone very well. Elsie poured them both a cup of coffee and began the intricate relay of her night. Matt had shown her around Lima, and as they walked from place to place he held her hand in his. When he dropped her home for the night, he'd given her a kiss on the doorstep and asked when he could see her again.

"And when did you tell him you'd be seeing him again?" Rachel asked.

'Tomorrow morning. Hope you don't mind?"********

"Of course not. I have to say, I never imagined you with a guy from high school. But I guess they've all changed so much. As have I." Rachel told her, which to anyone else might have sounded like criticism but to Elsie she knew Rachel meant she was happy for her.

Elsie couldn't help but laugh, she really did love Rachel. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, now are you going to tell me about your night or not?". She pushily asked. And Rachel did.

xxx

They're naked inhisbed, and he's running his hands across every inch of her body. All of a sudden he's thrusting inside of her and she can feel him so strongly.

She almost thinks it's real. She wakes herself up from her dream as she moans. As she takes in her surroundings she notices her hand between her thighs and thanks God that Elsie is sleeping in the spare room. Before she goes back to sleep she looks over at her clock, which reads 4.32am.