AN: I'm sorry it took me a bit. I wasn't really sure how to handle the whole Shell situation. I'm still not sure about this but I guess it's not going to get any better. I totally made up the musical they went to see, it's kind of weird. I hope you like this. R&R

Chapter 10: Zombie

Shelby found Rachel and took the seat next to her. There was a team on stage so the lights were all off but Rachel could sense she was really tense. She reached over and took Shelby's hand. Shelby smiled and gave her hand a little squeeze. Rachel felt her relax a bit and she smiled to herself. She had really missed her mom and she took comfort in knowing that she could do something for her too, even if it was just holding her hand when she was stressed.

The lights came on and they stood up. It was time for lunch and then there were a few performances left.

"I'm having lunch with the other coaches again." Shelby told Rachel with a scowl. She handed her some money for lunch. "Take care, ok? And don't go too far."

Rachel rolled her eyes at Shelby, but hugged her anyway. "I won't." She felt Shelby stiffen a bit and stepped away from her.

She placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I have to go. I'll see you later. Maybe we can do something afterwards since this is over earlier today, tell Kate."

Rachel stood there looking at her leave. She had been a little distant since they fought but maybe she was just stressed because the announced the winner tomorrow. She walked out with Kate and they walked around deciding where to go. They were walking in front of the Rockefeller rink when they saw Jesse sitting on one of the benches still looking miserable.

"Maybe you should try to talk to him this time, he already blew me off" Rachel pushed Kate in Jesse's direction. She stopped just before him and turned around to look at Rachel who nodded in encouragement.

"Hi, Jesse, I… are you ok?"

Jesse looked at her with a puzzled look and shook his head. Kate sat next to him on the bench and looked down at her feet, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm just having a bad day, the worst in fact." He gave a humorless chuckle.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kate and Jesse had never actually been friends. They didn't dislike each other but since Jesse was a senior and Kate was a sophomore they didn't run in the same circles.

Jesse shook his head again and Kate didn't really know what else to do. She threw Rachel a defeated look but she shook her arms motioning for her to try again.

"Rachel's worried about you. We are going to get something to eat; you want to come with us?"

"I shouldn't be with Rachel right now. Thanks for trying though. Tell Rachel I'm fine and that I'll catch up with you guys later."

Kate stood up and walked back to where Rachel was standing. "He said he's just having a bad day and that he might catch up with us later." They walked away and Rachel looked at him from the corner of her eye before they turned. He really did look like a mess. He looked like something inside him had died and he was in autopilot.

Shelby was walking back to the Hall when she got a text. She took out her phone and read it.

– I didn't know if I should call you. It seemed like you didn't want to talk. I don't know if I should be worried. I really miss the sound of your voice. –

Shelby closed her phone and put it back in her purse without answering. She found Rachel already there and she made her way towards her.

"I think we will be out by 5, you want to go catch a show or something? My friend Liz's show starts at 7 and then we could go have dinner somewhere." She turned to Kate. "You can come too if you like."

Kate and Rachel both nodded. Shelby smiled. "Great! Let's go in then."

The rest of the performances were good but not great. They left and took the subway to 1st Avenue and then walked to a small theatre near 11th Street. They bought their tickets and took their seats.

The show was a musical called "Are You Still Alive?" and it was about a woman, played by Shelby's friend, who fell in love with a guy who then was turned into a zombie and tried to eat her brain. In the end she sacrifices herself and turns into a zombie too so they can be together. The songs weren't that bad and Rachel thought her mom's friend had a really good voice, although the actor playing the zombie tended to slur his words a so much he sounded drunk most of the time.

When it ended Shelby turned to Rachel and Kate. "I'm going to say hello to Liz and see if she wants to come with us to dinner. Wait here."

She walked backstage and found Liz's changing room. She leaned on the doorframe and cleared her throat.

The woman turned and squealed. "Shelby! What are you doing here? I thought you weren't free until next week." She stood up and hugged her.

She was shorter than Shelby, with blonde hair and thin. "I got out early today and thought I might suffer through your play now rather than later. We're going to dinner, are you free?"

"Sure! You brought Rachel? I can't wait to meet her. Let me just take this stupid zombie make up off."

Rachel kept bouncing her leg up and down and it was getting on Kate's nerves. Kate put her hand on Rachel's knee to stop her but Rachel started doing it again as soon as she took her hand away.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you so nervous?"

Rachel chewed on her bottom lip. "I've never met a friend of my mom. What if she doesn't like me?"

"Who cares? It's not as if your mom is going to stop talking to you. Besides, Ms. Corcoran doesn't seem like the type who cares about what people think."

"You're right." They heard footsteps to their right and Rachel got up. "Here they come."

Liz saw Rachel standing there and thought of how much she looked like Shelby when she was younger. Shelby walked up to Rachel and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Liz, this is Rachel, my daughter, and that's Kate, she's part of my team."

Liz shook Kate's hand. "Nice to meet you Ms…"

"Call me Liz. I might be her age but I'm not your coach." Kate smiled, she liked her.

Liz walked up to Rachel and hugged her. Rachel wasn't expecting that but she awkwardly wrapped her arms around the woman.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you." She took Rachel by the shoulders and pulled her back to study her. "She looks just like you S. Does she have your voice too?"

Shelby smiled. "Hers is better."

Rachel blushed and looked down at her feet. This whole situation was starting to make her very uncomfortable.

"Then she must be amazing." Liz said with a smile and let go of Rachel.

They walked out of the theatre and stopped outside. Shelby turned to Liz with a smile and asked. "So, dinner. Life cafe?"

Liz smiled back and started to walk. "Life cafe. I haven't seen you in ages, you look really good."

Kate and Rachel walked a few steps behind them watching the two of them.

"Thanks. You look good too. You were great by the way. You weren't kidding when you said it was a weird story."

Liz chuckled. "Yeah well, getting a decent job is not that easy. You should know, although you seem to be doing pretty good now."

Shelby smiled and looked back at Rachel and Kate. "Yeah, I am."

They arrived at the restaurant and a tall guy in an apron hurried to say hello to Liz and get her a table.

Shelby looked around "Wow, this place has really changed."

"Yeah, this is not starving artist exclusive anymore."

They ordered their drinks and studied the menus for a while. Liz didn't even look at it and continued to chat.

"Any new guys in your life?"

Shelby choked on her drink and coughed a bit. She knew this was coming she just hoped Rachel wasn't there when it did.

"I'm sort of seeing someone."

Rachel scoffed. "Sort of seeing someone? You practically live together. Every time I call you you're either with him or going to see him."

Liz arched an eyebrow in Shelby's direction. Shelby sighed. "We don't live together. We might spend a lot of time together but we each have our apartments. Can we stop talking about Will now?"

Liz knew Shelby well enough to know when she was freaking out about a guy so she let it rest. Rachel was studying her menu again and discussing her options with Kate so she didn't really notice Shelby's exasperated tone.

They ordered and Liz started asking things to Rachel. "So you sing too?"

Rachel smiled and nodded. "I'm in a Glee club in another school."

Liz turned to Kate. "And you're with Shelby, right?" Kate nodded. "Is she really hard? Because let me tell you, when we used to rehearse together she was a real pain in the ass. Every single thing I did was wrong."

Shelby gave her a look. "Hey, I wasn't that bad. And besides, you kept doing it wrong. I'm going to the bathroom and I'd appreciate it if you don't criticize me while I'm gone." She stood up and left her phone on the table next to Rachel.

Liz waited for her to be gone and turned back to the girls. "She wasn't that bad actually. She helped me a lot and once you get to know her she's really a sweet person."

Shelby's phone started ringing and Rachel saw Mr. Schue's name blinking on the screen. She didn't think it would be wrong to answer and pass it to her mom when she came back so she took the phone.

"Hi Mr. Schue, it's Rachel."

"Hi Rachel, is your mom there?"

Rachel looked around and didn't see her coming back. "She'll be right back, do you want to call in a few minutes, I can tell her you called."

"No, I can wait." Will doubted she'd pick up later. "Is she ok?"

Rachel frowned. "I guess. She seems fine, why?"

"She's just been weird lately."

Rachel saw Shelby walking back from the bathroom. "She's coming back, I'll put her on. Bye Mr. Schue!"

She passed Shelby the phone. "It's Mr. Schue."

Shelby took the phone and walked out of the restaurant. She really didn't feel like talking to Will right now but she couldn't just hang up on him. She took a deep breath and pulled the phone to her ear. "Hi Will."

Will couldn't help to smile as he heard her voice. "Hi, I've been trying to get a hold on you. What's going on?"

"Nothing Will, I've just been busy. I'm working, remember?"

Will noted the strain in her voice. He didn't want to push her but he knew that if he didn't do it now he might not have a chance to talk to her until she came back. "Shelby, I know something's wrong. Did I do something?"

Besides being adorable and loving and just freaking perfect? "No Will, you didn't do anything. I'm just tired and this whole thing with Rachel stressed me out a lot and…" She really didn't want to talk about this over the phone but he had asked.

"And what? Shelby talk to me."

"And I don't know if this whole thing with you and me is going to work."

Wills heart sunk. "What?"

Shelby raked her hand through her hair. She had to think of something believable fast other than I'm terrified to fall for you. "I've been thinking and maybe we're just not right, you know? I mean, we're very different and it's not a good time. You just finalized your divorce a few months ago and I'm just starting this thing with Rachel. I think this time away has given me some perspective. We were never going to work Will."

Will clutched the phone tighter. "I don't believe you. You can't just drop this on me now; we're too far into it. You're giving up just like that? We haven't had any real problems yet."

"I know, that's why I think it's better to get out of this before we do and we end up hating each other."

"I could never hate you, I lo…"

"Don't say it Will. You're only going to make it harder. We'll talk about it when I get back. I'm really sorry." She hung up the phone and leaned on the wall.

AN: Just to clarify, and I have nothing against Lea, she's awesome, but the comment made by Shelby about Rachel's voice was purely fictional for fluff purposes only. No one has a better voice than Idina. Ok, crazy fanzel comment over.