A/N: First of all, I would like toMathildegive a big shout out to MissRe, who has been a faithful reviewer. I appreciate those reviews more than I can tell you, so thank you. She also caught my spelling mistake in chapter 2, which has now been fixed (Ilene should actually have been Eileen. I knew something seemed off, but I couldn't figure it out. Now I know. So thanks again).

I hope you all are still enjoying the story. Also, if you haven't read A New Beginning or aren't familiar with the characters, I'd suggest at least checking out the family trees associated with the story since a few of them will be making appearances here. I'm hoping to bring some other glee characters in, too, but we'll see.

ETA: also thanks to my guest reviewer, Mathilde, for the French correction. I don't speak it, so if Google translate incorrect, I honestly wouldn't know. The change hhas been made :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A few days later, as she was leaving the dance studio to meet Rachel downstairs, Holly glanced at her watch and realized she was already running late.

"Great. Rachel is going to kill me," she muttered, not paying attention to where she was going as she shoved open the door to the lobby. It was only when she fell to the ground and her bag fell open after running into them that she realized someone had been on the other side.

"Holly! Are you okay?" Rachel asked, rushing over to her cousin's side, having seen the collision.

"I'm fine aside from the fact that most of my stuff is currently on the floor instead of in my bag where it belongs," she replied. "What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting downstairs."

"Shelby needed my help a little longer than she anticipated, so I was running late. I tried calling you, but it went straight to voicemail, so I thought I'd check to see if you were even finished with your class yet."

"You know, I thought by now you would have learned to watch where you're going," the person Holly had run into grumbled. "Instead you've just gotten better at knocking people over."

"Hi, Dominic," Rachel greeted, having met him just the night before when Jesse hosted a musical movie night.

"Hi, Rachel," Dominic replied, stopped from saying anything else by Holly's outburst.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she demanded.

"I work here, thank you very much."

"How? Since when?"

"You can thank your aunt, and I started yesterday."

"Great. I think I'll go do just that."

"Holly…" Dominic started, his sentence cut short by Holly once more.

"Don't. I got your message, but it doesn't make up for the fact that you decided I wasn't worth it anymore. So I'm sorry for knocking you over, but you can go to hell," she snapped before she quickly gathered her things and stood, walking out the door and letting it slam behind her.

"Well, that answers my question about whether or not she's still pissed at me," Dominic said with a sigh, earning him a sympathetic look from Rachel.

"I'll talk to her," she promised. "Right now, I think I should probably go make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

With another sigh, Dominic stood and grabbed his bag before once more attempting to go into the back. He knew that he had messed things up with Holly, but he was determined to make them right, to make it up to her.

"Holly, what's the matter?" Shelby asked, immediately concerned when she saw the angry look on her niece's face along with the tears.

"How could you?" she asked. "Why did it have to be that dance studio? There's a million of them here! Why not one of those?!"

"You ran into Dominic, I take it."

"Literally," Rachel added as she entered the room and walked over to them.

"First of all, Dominic was my student for four years and I know he's a very talented dancer. I helped him find job openings and told him he could use me as a reference. That job was open to anyone and I wasn't actually the one who made the decision to offer him the job," Shelby informed her. "So if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at them."

"Jesse said Dominic didn't even know you were working there until after he'd already accepted the job. He was actually hoping to avoid what happened earlier," Rachel revealed.

Whirling on her cousin, Holly's fury seemed to increase.

"Dominic and I aren't you and Jesse, okay?! You have no idea how much it hurts to feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest!"

"Actually, I do, and for the record, I know you and Dominic aren't me and Jesse. I never said you were. If all you're going to do is stand here and insult me, then you can leave and never speak to me again, because I'm done keeping people like that in my life."

"I didn't do this to hurt you, Holly," Shelby told her. "I'll call you a cab. Rachel, would you mind staying with Beth for a minute?"

"Of course," Rachel replied, walking over to the child who was currently bopping her head to the sound of the music coming from the nearby CD player while Shelby and Holly walked outside.

"I didn't mean to hurt Rachel's feelings…or yours," Holly said softly as she followed her aunt out into the hall.

"I know," Shelby replied, rubbing her niece's arm as she spoke. "I also know there's a lot going through your mind right now, but that's no reason to lash out at anyone-Dominic, Rachel, or myself. I understand that you're angry and frustrated, but I'm going to be honest here, Holly. Dominic is the only one who can answer your questions. You two need to talk. Whether you decide to get back together or not, you need answers before you can move forward."

Holly nodded, fighting back tears as she watched Shelby hail a cab for her.

"Thanks, Aunt Shelby," she said as she slid into the cab.

Shelby gave her niece a sympathetic smile before taking some money out of her pocket and handing it to Holly.

"This should cover the cost of the cab. I want you to call me when you get home," she instructed.

"I will," Holly promised.

Shutting the door, Shelby stepped back and watched the cab drive away before walking back into the building.

"Where did my mom go?" Beth asked as she watched Shelby leave the room.

"Holly needed her help with something," Rachel answered. "She'll be back in a few minutes."

"Can I color?"

"I think that would be okay. Princesses, right?"

Beth smiled and nodded, happy to be able to color for a little while longer before they had to leave.

"I wasn't sure which princess book you wanted, so I brought them both," Rachel informed her as she took a seat across the table.

"The blue one," Beth answered.

"You go ahead and color, I'm going to start cleaning up."

A short while later, as she reached her apartment door, Holly was grateful to find it already unlocked. While it meant Tasha was home and would likely want to know what happened, she didn't have to try to fumble with her keys again to unlock this door, too.

"Holly?" Tasha called as she heard the door open. After taking a good look at her friend and roommate, she was immediately concerned. "What happened?"

"I ran into Dominic, Literally," Holly answered with a sigh, letting her bag fall to the floor and stuffing her keys in her coat pocket before letting that fall, too.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know what there is to talk about. I'm hungry and I'm tired."

"I think I can probably throw something together quick, if you want."

Holly eyed her roommate warily.

"Since when do you cook?" she asked.

"I know how to make a few things," Tasha replied.

"I'm too hungry to care right now. Just make it quick. I'm going to go take a shower."

Tasha nodded, walking over to the fridge to get what she needed, grateful to not have to talk about why she was so suddenly interested in cooking.

After her shower and a phone call to her aunt, Holly ventured back out to the kitchen to see what Tasha had managed to make.

"Okay, something is definitely going on," she said as she took a seat at the table.

"No, it's not," Tasha insisted.

With a roll of her eyes, Holly walked into the living room and picked up a pile of books before setting them down on the kitchen table with a plop.

"We have two cookbooks and one book about cooking for beginners. Let's try this again. What's going on?"

"Why does something have to be going on for me to want to learn how to cook?"

"Because I know you and I know of a certain someone else who desires to be a chef someday. I'd hazard a guess that they're connected."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Whatever. I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now," Holly said with a sigh, dismissing the subject. "What did you make?"

"I ended up just throwing in a pizza," Tasha admitted. "It should be done shortly."

"Pizza works."

"Are you sure you're okay? You seemed really upset earlier."

"Aside from running into Dominic, I also lashed out at my aunt and cousin."

"What did Beth do?"

"Not Beth. Rachel."

"You mean the cousin you just recently started to get to know?"

"Yeah, that one. I was a total bitchy drama queen."

"Okay, you're going to have to start from the beginning. How and where did you run into Dominic, and how does lashing out at your aunt and cousin fit into this?"

"So it all started because I got stuck talking to the parent of one of my dance kids…" Holly began, explaining what had happened that afternoon.

After getting settled in her own apartment, Rachel picked up her phone to call her boyfriend for their nightly chat.

"Hey, Rach," he answered.

"Hey," she replied, smiling at little at the sound of his voice.

"You okay? You sound sad."

"It's been an…eventful…afternoon."

"Holly found out, didn't she?" Jesse guessed.

"Yes," Rachel confirmed. "She didn't take it well."

"I didn't expect her to."

"I wish I knew how to help her, but I don't think we're really close enough yet, and I'm not sure we ever will be."

"What makes you say that? You two seemed pretty chummy to me."

"I thought we were friends at least. She accused me of not knowing what it was like to feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, and she made it sound like I thought that she and Dominic were you and me."

"What did you say to her in response?"

"I told her that I knew she and Dominic weren't you and me, that I absolutely did know that feeling, and that if she was just going to insult me, I didn't want her in my life."

"Wow."

"I may have been a bit harsh with the last part, but I mean it, Jess. I'm done keeping people in my life who aren't going to support me. I don't want to work so hard to win someone over."

"You shouldn't have to," Jesse agreed. "I know you and some of your teammates were eventually able to move past your differences, but you gave them a lot more chances than they deserved. You also gave me more chances than I probably deserved, so I'm not really in a position to throw stones."

"You don't think she meant what she said, do you?"

"No, Rach, I don't. I think she was upset and frustrated, and understandably so. Like you, she's very dramatic and everything she feels, she feels intensely. It's often compounded by the fact that she holds things in until she feels like she's going to explode, too."

"Maybe I'll text her tomorrow, see how she's doing."

"I think she'd appreciate it."

"Enough about me. How was your day?" she asked, wanting to think about something else for a little while.

"Not so bad. I had my performance in Dean Tibideaux's class today."

"How'd that go?"

"Pretty well, actually. She hasn't posted grades yet, but I think she was impressed. She gave us our new assignment, too."

"Which is?"

"She wants us to find a duet partner for our next song. Someone outside of NYADA."

"Why outside of NYADA?"

"No clue. I was actually hoping to convince you to be the person I duet with. You haven't mentioned whether or not you'd want to try going back to college or not, but it could give you a chance to apologize to Dean Tibideaux like you've said you want to."

"You've already put your reputation on the line once for me. I can't let you do it again."

"She has to approve all of the pairings-we're supposed to submit them to her by tomorrow. If she doesn't ask me to find someone else to sing with, then will you agree to duet with me?"

"I'll always sing with you, but yes, if Dean Tibideaux approves the pairing, I will sing a duet with you for your class," Rachel agreed, though she was still a bit apprehensive about the whole thing.

A couple of days later, as she anxiously waited outside of the door that led to her aunt's daycare, Holly began to wonder if either her aunt or cousin would forgive her for being such a horrible person. Shelby probably wouldn't hold it against her, considering they had been fairly close all of her life, but Rachel she was just starting to get to know. She had given them both, along with herself, a couple of days to calm down before attempting reconciliation. If Rachel was anything like her mother, coffee would definitely be a step in the right direction.

"Holly?" Shelby asked as she answered the door. "You could have just come in…"

"I wasn't sure if I was still welcome," she replied. "Is Rachel here, too?"
"She's helping Beth set up the coloring table. Apparently only she does it the right way. If you have time, you could come in and wait for her."

Holly nodded, following her aunt into the room and setting the coffee down on a nearby table.

"I'm sorry about the other day…" she began, holding the cup of coffee she had marked with an S out to the older woman.

"We were running late this morning, we didn't have time to stop for coffee, so this is great. As for the other day, having known you your entire life, and being prone to dramatics myself, I understand. I accept your apology, though."

"Thank you."

A few minutes later, having gotten Beth settled at the coloring table with a couple of the other kids who had arrived early, Rachel walked over to where her mother and cousin were standing.

"Did you bring coffee?" she asked the older girl.

"I did," Holly confirmed, holding the third cup out to her.

Taking a sip, Rachel's eyes widened in surprise when she discovered the other girl had gotten her coffee order exactly correct.

"I kind of cheated with yours," Holly admitted with a small laugh.

"Who told you, Kurt or Jesse?" Rachel wondered.

"Both, actually. I called Jesse first, but he suggested I confirm with Kurt that that was still your favorite kind of coffee, so I did."

"You really didn't need to put that much effort into a coffee order."

"I wanted to. It's my way of showing you, and Aunt Shelby, that I'm sorry for the way I acted the other day."

"I've been informed that apparently a flair for the dramatic runs in the family," Rachel revealed. "I also learned that apparently Jesse isn't the only one who could match me dramatic exit for dramatic exit."

"Is that good or bad?" Holly asked cautiously.

"I don't know if good is necessarily the right word, but I guess that will work for now. You're forgiven."

"Just like that?"

"Well, you didn't interrupt my rehearsal two different times, and I've forgiven the guilty party in those cases, so it seems only fitting to forgive you, too."

"I'm assuming that is some kind of reference to Jesse?"

"It is."

"You'll have to fill me in later, I'm going to be late for my first class if I don't get going, but are you free for lunch?"

"Shelby and I usually just eat something here…" Rachel began, turning to her mother for an answer.

"Go ahead and take a lunch break," Shelby told her with a smile. "You've earned it."

"I have another class to teach this afternoon, so we won't be going far if you're needed here," Holly added. "I'll text you when I'm finished with my first couple of classes, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

After finishing her last class of the morning and sending a quick text to Rachel, Holly was walking towards the girls' dressing room when she heard Dominic's voice from a nearby room. Curious, she followed the sound and cautiously peeked into the room. He was on the phone talking to someone, but she couldn't make out whom, so she decided not to interrupt him. She had turned around to walk away when she heard him say her name.

"Crap. Busted," she muttered, turning around to face the only boy she'd ever really loved.

"Did you need something?" he asked, walking closer.

"No, I was just walking to the dressing room to change-I'm meeting Rachel for lunch-and I heard your voice. I, um, wanted to apologize for the other day, but I saw you were on the phone and I didn't want to interrupt."

"It was just my sister confirming dinner plans for tonight."

"Melina, Olivia, or Michaela?"

"Well, I was talking to Melina, but actually my whole family will be here tonight. It's the first time I've seen most of them since I got back."

"You sound excited," Holly noticed.

"I am, actually," Dominic confessed. "Lina and I have actually seen each other frequently, but I'm looking forward to seeing my dad and Nell, plus the rest of my siblings."

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks…and about the other day, don't worry about it. I know me being here again is kind of sudden and I didn't leave on the best terms with you."

"Good to know. I need to get going, but I'm sure I'll see you around," Holly said, turning around to leave when she felt Dominic grab her hand.

"Holly, wait…" he began.

Closing her eyes, Holly struggled to hold back the tears as she fought the impulse to turn back around and immediately forgive him if only he would promise not to break her heart again.

"Dominic, please don't," she pleaded.

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't. You made it perfectly clear that I wasn't enough for you before you left. I need to go or I'll be late."

"That's not true, not what I said."

"It doesn't matter now," Holly insisted, tugging her hand away and rushing down the hall before she let herself be talked into letting him back into her life.

Waiting for Holly outside of the dance studio, Rachel knew the moment she saw the older girl that something was wrong.

"Ready for lunch?" she asked brightly, hoping to cheer the other girl up.

"I'm not really hungry anymore, but I should probably eat something, so I guess so," Holly answered as she and Rachel began walking back downstairs.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay, well, if you change your mind, I'm here for you."

"I appreciate the concern, cousin," Holly replied with a small smile. "I'll let you know if I change my mind."

"Okay, then, let's get going. I'm famished."

"Yeah, I don't know how you manage to keep your energy up with all of those kids around all the time."

"It's not so bad, and there's not a ton of them. They're actually really good kids, and honestly, if I need to work at my mother's daycare for a few months while I get back into the swing of things, I think it'll be worth it."

"Have you heard anything from any of your auditions?"

"No. Not yet. I did find out that I will be stepping foot onto NYADA grounds again, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Jesse still goes to school there, and apparently his final assignment for his class with Dean Tibideaux involves a duet with someone not attending NYADA."

"I haven't ever heard you two sing together, but I've heard you sing separately. I'm sure you'd sound even better together."

"Shelby agreed to work on it with us, which I'm hoping will work in our favor. She helped Jesse with his previous assignment and Dean Tibideaux seemed impressed. Jesse put his reputation on the line for me and I blew it big time. I don't want to risk her taking it out on him."

"Didn't Aunt Shelby say she wasn't doing that?"

"Yes, but I want to be absolutely sure. It's also part of the reason we asked Shelby to help us."

"You know she'll be honest."

"Exactly," Rachel agreed as they walked up to the restaurant. Quickly changing subjects, she flashed her cousin a smile as she said, "We're here."

"I…have never been here," Holly confessed as they walked inside. "How did you find it?"

"My daddy. He was looking up vegan restaurants to try when he and my dad come to visit, and found out this one was close to the building we work in, so he suggested we try it out. They've got lots of different options and have gotten rave reviews."

"Well, it certainly smells good in here, so let's try it."

Walking into her apartment later that night, Holly was surprised to see a dozen roses sitting on the counter.

"Who are these from?" she asked, looking over at Tasha.

"I didn't read the card, but I assume Dominic," Tasha answered. "I think it's cute."

With a sigh, Holly set her bag down and took off her coat before walking over to the counter and plucking the card from its holder in the middle of the bouquet.

Holly-

Je suis désolé. Je t'aime.

-Dominic

"What does that mean?" Tasha asked, having read the card over her friend's shoulder.

"He said 'I'm sorry. I love you," Holly translated, tears forming in her eyes for the second time that day.

"You feel the same, don't you?"

"I don't want to."

"He came back to New York because you're here, because this is where you both have always dreamed of living. I think that in and of itself speaks volumes about his intentions," Tasha told her. "He sent you your favorite flowers and wrote you a note in French, a language you've loved since you were young. A language he made an effort to master so he could at least understand what you were saying."

"I know."

"So talk to him. Let him explain. Maybe the only one who can heal your heart is the one who broke it in the first place."

Holly nodded, slipping the note into her pocket before making her way down the hall to her room. Quickly shutting the door behind her, she leaned against it as she let the tears begin to fall.

"Damn you, Dominic," she swore as she slid to the ground and buried her face in her hands. "Why did you have to remember so much about me?"

A couple of days later, having spent the majority of her days holed up in her apartment, Holly was surprised when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Opening the door, she saw Tasha standing there looking annoyed.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Put that damn necklace back on and go reunite with Dominic like I know you're trying to talk yourself out of doing. I'm meeting Alec for lunch, you better not still be here when I get back," she informed her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tasha rolled her eyes, walking over to Holly's dresser and picking up a small white box, opening it to reveal the necklace Dominic had given to Holly shortly after they began dating.

"I know you took this out of the drawer and have had it here ever since," she revealed.

"I told you to throw it away," Holly reminded her.

"I knew you'd regret it if I did, so I put it someplace I didn't think you'd ever look. You can't tell me you weren't happy to know I didn't actually throw it out."

"You don't know everything about me."

"No, but we've been friends for years, so I think I know you pretty well. If you didn't want the necklace, you could have thrown it away yourself, but you didn't."

Holly opened her mouth to deny what Tasha had said, but immediately closed it when she realized the other girl was right.

"Look, if you want me to help you find Dominic, or go with you to make sure you actually make it to his place, I will."

"I know where he lives."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Rachel is dating Jesse, you know, Dominic's friend and roommate."

"Right."

"Go to lunch, Tasha. I'll see you later. Tell Alec I said hi," Holly replied, pushing the other girl out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

Looking in the mirror once more, Holly sighed as she looked over at the box containing the necklace from Dominic. She'd worn that necklace every day when they were together, even when she was in Akron and he was in New York. Taking it out of the box, she held it in her hands for a few moments before slipping it around her neck again.

"Here goes nothing, I guess," she said to herself as she walked out the door.

Quickly grabbing her coat, purse, and keys, she left the apartment and began the journey to Dominic and Jesse's place, hoping he would be home and she didn't lose her nerve somewhere along the way.