AN: I'm home sick at the moment... (so be nice =P). Hope this was worth the wait. I had a last minute change of plans with this chapter so it's a little different to what I had originally. I hope it's still good.

Elle xox

Rachel started the compulsory therapy sessions the next morning. Will drove her to the office in town and a hesitant Rachel was lead to a room down the hall. The room itself had bright coloured walls, couches and was filled with toys for younger children and a table and chairs. It was no where near as formal as Rachel had expected it to be.

"You must be Rachel!" a young, skinny man in a suit crossed the room and smiled at the teen, "Melanie has told me all about you. I am Doctor Sweets."

Rachel looked the man up and down. She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do but thankfully Doctor Sweets was used to this kind of thing and indicated to the seats at the table.

"So, I just thought we could have a chat today. Would that be okay?" he asked. Rachel shrugged her shoulders but took the seat he indicated to.

She sat in silence while he rattled on about useless topics for a while. Rachel knew he was waiting for her to do something to show she was ready to talk but given the situation she really didn't want to.

Her session was supposed to go for an hour. They were nearly forty minutes in and Rachel still hadn't said anything. Doctor Sweets worked with kids like Rachel everyday and he knew it was just a matter of being patient and finding a common ground. Rachel picked up a pencil from the tub in the middle of the table and studied it closely.

"Would you like to draw?" the doctor asked. Rachel looked up at him, slightly surprised he would be okay with her drawing. He handed her a sketch book which she hesitantly opened and started scribbling in.

"You're very good," the man smiled at her drawing of the flowers that sat in the centre of the table, "do you draw often?"

Rachel shrugged and continued drawing. Doctor Sweets thought that was all the answer she was going to give before she suddenly spoke up.

"I like to draw," she whispered, "It helps me think."

"We all need things that help us relax," he smiled, "I used to write stories to calm my mind. I wish I had more time for it now."

Rachel kept on sketching, still not looking up at the man, "I draw when I'm not allowed to listen to my music… I had to hide the drawings though. I like to sing but if I can't, I draw."

"Yes, your foster father says you are a very good singer. Do you show Will your drawings? I'm sure he would love to see them," Doctor Sweets commented, referring to who he knew was the girls foster father. He watched as Rachel's hand stopped sketching for just a second and he knew he had got to her. She shook her head.

"Okay… well, I have a bit of homework for you," he told her quietly, "before I see you in a couple of days, I would like for you to show Will one of your drawings. I want you to show him a bit about this side of Rachel."

He stood from the table and Rachel closed the book she was drawing in before handing it to him.

"Keep it," he passed it back, "every time you need to relax or calm yourself down, draw in it." She nodded her head to show she understood and let him lead her back to the lobby, "I'm just going to have a chat with Will for a minute," he told her, "why don't you get yourself a cool drink from the fridge."

Will followed the doctor down to his office.

"She is a very confused girl," the doctor said, "She didn't start talking until a few minutes ago. Her whole life she has been told that everything she is interested in is a waste of time and now, with your support, she is realising she is allowed to like things for herself. I have tried to encourage her to share those interests with you but if she finds that difficult maybe you know of someone else she has made a connection with?"

"Noah… a boy from school," Will instantly replied, "they have been joined at the hip for the last few weeks. His mom is from a similar background and the two just sort of clicked."

"I would be encouraging that friendship as much as possible. She needs people she can talk to," the doctor agreed.

When the pair got home, Rachel sat at the dinning room table with her new sketch pad. She ran her hands over the front of the book. It was nice to know she had somewhere she could draw whatever she felt like. She had been speaking honestly when she said it calmed her mind and helped her think. Her fathers would not let her sing at home whenever they were around but she did practise dancing in her room, whenever she could. Drawing was what she did otherwise.

She thought about Doctor Sweets' homework. She didn't think handing Will a picture was the way to go about it so instead she took out a pencil, turned to a new page and started drawing in front of him.

Will watched while he prepared lunch as she drew random lines across the page. He had initially though she was just drawing a random pattern but he gasped when her realised what it was. He suddenly understood what Emma had been telling him about Rachel's drawings. She seemed to see something in the lines and connected them together to form a picture of him.

"That's very good," he told her as he placed a sandwich down in front of her. Rachel paused, looked up at him and gave a small smile.

"Thank you," she replied honestly.

In the week after the bedroom refit, Will noticed Rachel really come out of her shell. She had stopped flinching and pulling away when he or other people she was more comfortable with, accidentally got to close (although he could tell she was uncomfortable with the contact). Each morning she would come into school with him, sit behind his desk and do her homework or listen to music before either Puck or Kurt would come and get her. He had come into his office during breaks a few times to find drawings on his desk from her. A childish gesture perhaps from any ordinary teenage girl, but Rachel had a lot of years of her childhood to make up for and he knew this was her way of thanking him. Will discretely hung them on the fridge at home without making a fuss about it.

Rachel went to Ms Pillsbury's office a couple of times a week and they were slowly working through any issues that came up. After school each day she would either wait around for Will to finish work or Noah would drive her home and wait with her until the teacher returned home for the day. She was going to the required counselling sessions each week and after the rocky start, her counsellor was pleased with her progress.

During glee, she would sing when required but most of her solos had been handed out amongst the girls. The other Glee club members had of course noticed that she hadn't said more than a few words over the past few weeks but Kurt and Noah just reminded them that she had things going on at home that needed to be sorted out before she could concentrate on Glee again.

Rachel had been with him for almost five weeks and he decided she could probably handle meeting his parents now. After all they were going to be her grandparents. He had spoken to his parents a few days after Rachel had moved in and they were aware of the situation.

***FLASHBACK***

Will looked over at Rachel sitting on the couch reading a book and picked up the phone and dialled his parents number.

"Hi Mom!" he greeted her.

"Will! We haven't heard from you in a while," his mother commented. Will always tried to keep regular contact with his parents.

"Yeah, I know… I'm sorry. I have had a few things I needed to deal with," he replied.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes I'm fine… Look is dad there? Can you put me on speaker phone?" he asked trying to decide the best way to break the news to his parents, "Okay so this is going to be a bit of a shock but uh… You have a new granddaughter."

Rachel looked up at him from her spot on the couch upon hearing him refer to her as his parent's new grand daughter. His parents were silent for a minute before his mom spoke up.

"I don't understand Will."

He explained the situation carefully, not giving them all the details but giving them the basics.

"Well then," his mother's voice brightened, "what is our granddaughters name and when do we get to meet her?"

Will smiled. He knew his parents would be understanding.

"Rachel," he replied, "and you can meet her soon… I'm not sure she is ready for that just yet."

*** END OF FLASHBACK***

While Rachel was in the shower Friday evening, he rang his parents.

"Hi Mom… how would you like to meet Rachel Sunday night?" he asked. When they happily agreed, he gave them some idea what to expect.

"She is much better when people touch her now than she was when she first got here, but don't push it and don't get angry or disappointed if she doesn't talk to you straight away, it takes her a while to warm up to people... she hasn't really had family before- I don't want her to feel too overwhelmed."

After hanging up with his mom, he knocked on Rachel's door. When she told him to come in, he found her brushing her wet hair.

"My parents are coming over for dinner Sunday night," he told her, "they want to meet you."

"Oh, okay," she replied hesitantly.

"They are going to love you," he told her reassuringly.

It had taken Will a few weeks to work out some of Rachel's little habits. Like how she asked for permission before she did anything. It was a habit Will found slightly disturbing, knowing that Rachel had to ask before she did anything when she was at her fathers house. Every time she asked if she could go to the bathroom or go to her room, he reminded her she didn't need to ask and slowly, Rachel was coming to that understanding.

She also had unusual habits in her routine, like how she did her laundry. Every Saturday morning, she would put her washing on and sit on the couch in her pyjamas while she waited for it to finish and dry. This Saturday he heard her sigh from the laundry room and moved to the doorway.

"Is everything okay," he asked concerned.

"Yeah… This top is just old," she explained, "it ripped." She tossed the worn fabric straight into the trash. It was then that the reason for Rachel's strange washing habit dawned on Will. She didn't have other clothes to wear. It was just a ripped top to him but for Rachel it was one less item of clothing she had to choose from in her limited wardrobe. He had seen what she had brought with her from her fathers house and while there were quite a few pieces of clothing, most of them looked far too small or not in great condition.

"Okay, that's it," he declared, "put some clothes on we're going shopping."

Rachel gave him a strange look, "why?"

"Because you need new clothes," he said, pushing her out of the laundry room and towards her bedroom. While she changed he rang Emma and told her that he needed help and they would pick her up on the way to the mall.

The trio strolled into the mall and Emma took charge. She led the unique family from store to store, insisting that Rachel try on a number of clothing items. By lunch time the cart was full with several new pairs of jeans, a wide selection of summer and winter tops, a few shorts and skirts, a couple of summer dresses, a new swim suit, pyjamas, tights, jackets, jumpers and a coat. As well as these, Emma helped Rachel choose a few new pairs of shoes. Each time Will willingly handed over his credit card and each time Rachel tried to stop him, saying it was too much.

"Okay, one more store… uh Will, you might like to go get a coffee or something," Emma told the father pointedly. Will narrowed his eyes but agreed when he realised why Emma was trying to get rid of him. The guidance councillor led Rachel to an underwear store and helped the girl pick out several new sets of the essential garments.

"This is too much," Rachel told him for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning as they walked back into the house, "You didn't need to buy me all of those new clothes. They are too good for me. I would have got by… I always do."

"Tell me Rachel, when was the last time you got new clothes?… and I don't mean clothes you brought from a secondhand store," he asked her. Rachel was silent and just stared at him. She had never had new clothes brought for her, at least not for as long as she could remember.

"That's what I thought. You needed them and I wanted to by them for you. Things are going to be different now Rachel," he kissed her forehead and pushed her towards her room.

"Thank you," Rachel said sincerely. It might have seemed like a small gesture to him, but it absolutely meant the world to her to know that someone had her back.

Hope you liked it! Let me know!

On another note, a few chapters ago, I asked you what you thought about me posting another story with a similar (yet different) storyline to this. Everyone said they wanted me to post it, so I will… I have held off because I'm not yet happy with the ending. So watch this space!