-Authors Notes-
I'll keep this short and sweet. So I ran away with this chapter a bit but it's the first one I've written not based around a episode. Also I decided to do one for summer so enjoy the bumper chapter between season 1 and season 2.
Anyway let me know what you think because I kinda like this chapter.
See you next update my darlings.
-X-
Rachel Berry looked at herself in the mirror.
The floaty material of the dress she was wearing had a etherial looking effect but she supposed it had flexibility which would help their choreography for tomorrow.
Slipping out of the dress she carefully hung it in the hotel wardrobe before putting on some PJ's.
It was important to have a full nights rest before a competition.
Rachel was clambering into one of the soft beds as the door clicked open.
"What the hell are you doing in bed?"
Rachel smiled at the girl standing in the doorway, "I'm a performer Mercedes. All performers know the value of a good nights sleep before a show. Especially a national competition".
Mercedes made her way over to the bed Rachel was tucking herself into and sat on the edge.
"Diva to diva you can be annoying at times". Rachel scoffed as Mercedes continued. "...but we are still a team. And right now the team is all in Finn and Pucks room having a pre show party. Even your man candy is there".
"Jesse agreed to join me in the hotel gym tomorrow morning at 6:30, if he chooses to limit his sleep to party tonight on his head be it but I insist on getting my 8 hours".
"Uh uh. I INSIST that you get up and come with me right now. Putting your crazy aside for one night won't kill you. I'd never thought I'd say this but... it won't be the same without you".
Rachel searched for sarcasm in the girls expression but failed to find any. She looked longingly at the pillow before turning back to Mercedes and sighed defeated. "Fine but you are my room mate so you will have to suffer the wrath of a under slept Rachel Berry in the morning".
Mercedes cringed and painted a painfully forced smile on her face, "I look forward to it".
Rachel stomped to the wardrobe flicking through her clothes.
She had been most distressed when Mercedes made it clear she intended on living out of her suitcase, only hanging up the dress she would be wearing for the competition. Rachel continued to bite back the shock after then finding out Mercedes had only brought 4 outfits for the 2 and a half day trip.
Rachel had brought 9 outfits (not including her competition dress) which were all hung carefully in the wardrobe.
Just in case.
She quickly picked out a red and white polka dot dress and some red pumps and slipped into the bathroom to change.
Rachel came out a few minutes later and found Mercedes making Rachel's bed again.
"Just in case you change your mind Miss Bossy Pants. And don't tell Kurt but that dress is actually quite cute"
"Thank you Mercedes. Do we have time for me to stop by the hotel shop downstairs? I hate to go to a party empty handed".
"What? No, I've wasted enough time coming to get you. If it makes you feel any better we can say you're my gift to the party".
Nodding Rachel walked out of the room and tried to hide her surprise when she heard it close behind her and Mercedes slipped a arm through hers.
"So crazy how are things going with you and Jesse St. Jealous?"
"St. Jealous?"
"Yeah as in I'm totally jealous. I know we all gave you a hard time at first but I've gotta hand it to him he's made a real effort to be part of glee club. And it turned out he wasn't a Vocal Adrenaline spy".
Rachel smiled into the distance, "he's great. I'm not looking forward to him going away to college but I think we'll make it work"
She began to drift into her own thoughts when Mercedes nudged her, "we're here".
Mercedes knocked on the door and Rachel thought the knock sounded vaguely like 'Don't Stop' and went on a bit too long for a regular knock.
"See I told you the secret knock thing would be totally badass", Puck said as he opened the door up for them. "Wow you actually got Berry to come. Impressive Beyonce"
"And why exactly was everyone so sure that I wouldn't come?" reprimanding Puck with a slap on the arm for his assumption as she entered.
Mercedes ran over to Kurt before turning around and loudly proclaiming, "because I had to get you to change out of your PJ's, that's why".
"And because you lectured us all on the importance of a routine 8 hours sleep before a competition on the way here", Santana chimed from her huddle with Brittany.
Rachel ignored them. She knew she was right and that they would all suffer, including herself, in the morning. Looking around, the room seemed cramped compared to hers but that may have been as there were 13 teenagers crammed inside of this one.
"Hay Rach you made it!" Finn said eagerly as she made eye contact with him. "Let me get you a drink"
Rachel then saw Jesse appear from the other side of the room, "Rachel I got you a bottle of water as I knew it would be all you're willing to drink the night before a show".
She poked a finger into his chest dramatically as Finn slinked away, "yes it is all I'll drink. I'd like to do something right tonight especially since I have a 6:30 date with my boyfriend in the gym tomorrow morning, and I was planning on being asleep right now but I was told you were here".
He turned away from Rachel to look at Mercedes, shaking his head dramatically, "I told you not to use me being here as bait to get Rachel".
"The only problem there is I just saw you giving Mercedes the thumbs up". She quipped as the two laughed.
Rachel slinked past Artie and Tina to find Finn again who was leaning against one of the windows, "you ok Finn?"
He broke his gaze away from his drink for a moment and sincerely replied, "yeah better, thanks Rach, but hey don't worry about me, you're singing lead tomorrow remember?"
"Yes but nerves are something I quashed from my system years ago. And I'm here if you need to talk Finn but take some comfort that this little soiree you and Noah have arranged is actually quite impressive on short notice".
He stood up with what Rachel thought was a little more confidence and flashed her a half smile, "just call me the party master".
Somewhere in the background Puck shouted, "as much as we can under the rules of this boring ass hotel, let's get this party started".
Music started playing and Quinn yelled, "turn it down Puckerman, if you get my speakers confiscated I'll kill you!"
Rachel giggled. The two of them had been both inseparable and insufferable since regionals. It had hit Finn pretty hard at first but eventually he conceded that he couldn't stay mad, he'd dumped her first because he didn't love her.
And as far as he'd told Rachel it was hard enough giving up a baby without being mad at his best friend as well.
"Will you be joining me for a dance milady?", Jesse appeared again holding his arm to her.
She placed a hand on her chest feigning surprise, "Good sir I thought you'd never ask".
Rachel smiled once more at Finn before being led to the center of the room to dance with Jesse. She looked up at him and grinned. Reaching up on her tip toes she planted a kiss on his cheek.
Of course she was forgetting she was in the middle of the rest of the glee club.
"Ooooooooooo" was the collective noise that reached her ears.
"Oh shut up!" she said not even looking in their direction.
-X-
Rachel's bag sat packed by the door. It had been there since the day before.
They weren't due to board the coach for another hour.
Mercedes banged on the door to their room.
"Listen little miss diva pants you had better open this door right now! I left my card key in there and I know you're in there. Open up!"
Rachel didn't move an inch, her face was still buried in the pillow which was now damp with tears.
"Rachel please! We've got like an hour and I haven't packed anything"
The pleading in her voice triggered the responsible voice in Rachel's head, it forced her to look at Mercedes side of the room that was indeed in disarray.
For a moment she wondered how she had got Mercedes as a room mate. The girl was almost as disorganized as Finn or Puck.
With silent sobs still racking her body she shuffled over to the door, lazily pulling down the handle she opened the door an inch before turning to shuffle back to her bed.
Before she got there however she was spun around by Mercedes, "wait a minute. I had to sleep in Kurt's room and you left me outside for..."
Not only was Mercedes there but Kurt stood with his packed case by her side and both of them gasped when they saw the state Rachel Berry had gotten herself into.
Rachel didn't wear a lot of make up but the small amount of mascara she did wear was running down her cheeks. She was still in her dress from the competition the day before. Her eyes had bags under them from a lack of sleep as well as being red and puffy from the crying. If they opened her suitcase they would actually see nothing was packed but rather shoved in at great force and left by the door. She was a wreck.
She made no move to speak but instead wriggled free from Mercedes now relaxed grasp and successfully made it back to her one true friend, the pillow she'd cried into all night.
"Honey" Mercedes cooed as she rushed over to rub her back.
Kurt made his way to the other side of the bed, "Rachel I know we lost but it had nothing to do with you. I don't say this often Rachel but you were perfect. Your duet with Jesse was sublime".
She had stopped crying for a moment to listen until Kurt mentioned Jesse, she then doubled over into more sobs.
His was the last name she wanted to hear.
No one in the room had noticed but the door was still open, the commotion inside the room attracted the attention of Finn and Artie who were coming down the corridor, "Oh great we were just looking for you Kurt, Artie was wondering if you packed his..."
Rachel looked up to see Finn and Artie pull shocked faces at her appearance.
She felt like a side show. Her face couldn't have been that bad but everyone had looked at her like she was hideous, and now she had a audience to her theatre of pain.
She ran to the bathroom before anyone could stop her and locked the door.
She heard rushed mumbling outside the door and made out Kurt saying, "I don't know I even complimented her performance but she just got worse after that".
A knock on the bathroom door.
"Rachel, honey, can you let just me in?"
Rachel considered it for a moment and came to the conclusion she had to speak to someone, she surely couldn't get on the bus like this. She slid the door open so Mercedes could get in.
Rachel was curled up against the tiled wall and Mercedes slid down next to her, one arm around her small shoulders and some tissues in her other hand.
"This is not the diva I know. Rachel Berry doesn't cry like this over some competition"
"It's not about the competition Mercedes. I can deal with losing the competition, I know that I now have another year to focus completely on polishing everyones skills so when we return next year there is no doubt in our minds that we will win. This is about Jesse".
"What did that fool do?"
Rachel leaned her head on her knees which were bunched into her chest.
"We had a fight after the competition. We both got pretty mad, we started talking about him at UCLA next year. He said if he hadn't of moved here for me he'd have a national championship by now and that I hadn't even said I loved him yet and that maybe coming here to be with me was a waste of time and that how could we go the distance while he's at school if we haven't even had sex and he called me a prude and a bitch and he said I was using him and... and..."
Rachel became more and more incoherent as she recited the argument to Mercedes, eventually doubling over in more sobs and grabbing tissues from Mercedes to attempt to control them.
She didn't want to be this uncontrolled, this helpless and pathetic but in his anger Jesse had said some things that... well Rachel thought things had got pretty far. And at this point she didn't even know if she had a boyfriend anymore.
She didn't even know if she wanted a boyfriend anymore.
The sound of wood slamming on wood made both of them snap their heads up. Forgetting themselves they jumped up and rushed into the room only to find Kurt on the floor by the door and Artie in the corner looking terrified.
"Finn heard...", Artie's eyes flashed momentarily to Kurt, "what Jesse said about Rachel. He got a bit... mad".
Rachel ran out the open hotel room door that had apparently been slammed against the wall. She couldn't see Finn anywhere but instinctively ran for Jesses room. She ran the two flights up not bothering to wait for the elevator and stopped to catch her breathe at the top. She still had the tissues in her hand and furiously rubbed her eyes as she ran down the empty corridor.
She reached 319 with no sign of the door being kicked in, she knocked afraid of what she'd find.
All she saw was a sullen Jesse whose eyes brightened the moment he saw her.
"Rachel I..."
Rachel upon seeing Finn wasn't there promptly turned on her heel and walked away.
She knew he was safe from a fist fight, it did not mean she was ready to talk to the jackass.
She was so upset she was cussing in her inner monologue.
He made her cuss in her inner monologue.
"Please wait!" he called. She didn't turn around but she did stop.
"Rachel Barbara Berry please find it in your wonderful, generous heart to forgive me. I was a fool. I let my competitive nature cloud my judgement and allowed my most insecure thoughts to the surface. I don't deserve you but please Rachel, please accept this apology. I know you haven't said it and I don't care, I don't care about anything I said last night, I LOVE YOU RACHEL".
Rachel was actually burning up with anger rather than sadness at this point.
How dare he apologize and expect her to forget all of the awful things he'd said.
She turned, marched up to him. She raised her hand and slapped him with all of her might.
"You expect me to fall over myself to forgive you now do you? You expect me to blush and giggle and fawn all over you on your knees begging for forgiveness and just forget all of the horrendous things you said and move on? Get on the coach and go back to Lima like nothing happened? What happens in a month when you leave for school and we have this argument again Jesse? Or is that it? We're only going to last while you're at UCLA if I do it with you before you leave?"
She looked at his stunned face and didn't know what to feel. She walked away with her head held high as he called after her.
She walked back to her room where Kurt was sitting on Mercedes case while Mercedes tried to close it.
"Rachel how are you, did you find Finn?"
"No".
Rachel grabbed the extendable arm of her case and began wheeling it out of the room not caring that she was still in her competition dress with make up staining her face.
She walked to reception and was unsurprisingly the first one there, even heartbroken Rachel was early.
She decided to sit outside because at this point, who cared what she looked like?
Making herself comfortable on a bench in the pick up area outside she saw a tall figure across the parking lot.
"Finn!" she shouted.
He jogged over surprisingly quickly, "Rachel what are you doing here?"
"I'm just waiting for the coach to get here and I figured maybe a bit of fresh air was just what I needed. Where did you go after you left our room?"
"I just came down here actually. I thought fresh air might calm me down, I knew if I went to see Jesse I'd kill him for saying that stuff about you", she raised a eyebrow and he explained quickly, "Cause you know no one talks about anyone else from glee like that. But yeah anyway after what happened in glee last time Figgins said if I get in another fight with Jesse we're both suspended".
Rachel smiled at Finn. She had expected the worst but he'd actually thought it through, although apparently not everything.
"Finn the coach with be here in 15 minutes".
"Yeah?", he asked looking confused.
"Finn you don't have your case".
Finns mouth formed a perfect 'o' as he looked down at his hands and some sort of realization hit him, "I haven't even packed".
Rachel held back the laughter at his face and said one word, "run".
He took off faster than on the football field.
She watched him go but ended up laughing for the first time that day when he was back in five minutes.
He stood in front of her ready for inspection with his case which had clothes hanging out of the edges. It was strapped together with a belt and she could only assume it was because of the clothes that stopped the zip from being done up correctly. He was also wearing two jackets.
"Come here" she giggled as she took the case from him and unbuckled the belt to begin folding everything.
She held out her hand for one of the jackets.
He was now sitting next to her, "what?"
"You're wearing two jackets. In summer. Hand me one and I'll pack it".
He chuckled as he took one off but proceeded to put it around her shoulders rather than in her hand, "I didn't pack them both because you haven't got a jacket on Rach".
"Oh", was all she managed to say as she blushed and turned back to his case.
She spotted the gold bracelet from Jesse on her wrist as she folded.
