A/N Hi! So this is definitely my favorite chapter so far (And it's also the longest). Chapters from now on will probably be about this length now that we're getting farther in the story. The song in this chapter is "Haunted" by Kelly Clarkson, so if you haven't heard it I suggest you listen to it because it actually fits perfectly into Rachel's situation in this story. I took some of the words out because 1. In the actual show they cut parts of the song and 2. I didn't want it to get too annoying to read a whole song.

I don't own glee

She was running. What she was running from, Rachel wasn't sure. She just kept running, knowing whatever she was running from but she would be dead if it ever caught up to her. Maybe it wasn't even someone she was running from, maybe it was memories or thoughts but that didn't mean she didn't want them to catch up to her. Rachel's breathing was heavy and she was panting from how long she had been being chased. Suddenly she felt something take her feet out from under her and she was plummeting down to the ground. Rachel began to whimper, scared for what would happen next. She looked behind her; there was nothing. She looked to both of her sides to find that they were empty. But when she looked straight ahead she saw a figure coming towards her. As the person got closer Rachel was shocked to see Quinn. She was dead, right?

Imaginary Quinn began to laugh when she saw Rachel struggling to get up. She was stuck on the ground, unable to get up as if someone had glued her there. The harder Rachel tried to get up from the ground Quinn only laughed more as if Rachel's pain was the most amusing thing in the world. Finally, after a few minutes of Rachel's agony, Quinn stretched out her hand and pulled Rachel up in one swift move.

"Oh how I've missed you Rachel," Quinn whispered as she stroked Rachel's face gently. The way she was smiling was angelic and spine tingling at the same time. "And that's exactly why I'm going to kill you so we never have to be apart."

Rachel lurched out of bed, her breathing coming fast as she choked out large sobs in terror. It was just a dream, it was just a dream she kept telling herself, and Quinn isn't actually coming to kill you. It took her a few minutes to regain her breath and become calm but eventually slow deep breathes helped her. Sure she had dreams about Quinn and nightmares of being killed but usually the two never crossed. Maybe it was more painful because Quinn had been the one doing the killing this time. Finally, Rachel forced herself to leave the warm depths of her bed and venture downstairs for breakfast.

Once she got downstairs, Rachel was in for a somewhat pleasant surprise. Her dads had decorated the whole dining room in "Congratulations!" decorations, and she immediately knew they must have found her NYADA she had left on the kitchen table. Rachel was always one for celebrating her never ending success but right now all she could think about was finding something to eat and eating it as fast as possible. Her dads rounded the corner with sparkly party hats on and immediately engulfed her in a large hug. Rachel could only laugh at how incredibly giddy they were first thing in the morning.

"Congratulations on your acceptance buttercup! We knew you would do it," Hiram Berry bragged proudly and he and Leroy began to go on and on more with how proud they were. As they kept talking, Rachel sat herself down at the table filled with food and silently took two pancakes from the stack and drowned them in syrup. Rachel was barely paying attention to the conversation anymore as she shoved the food into her hungry mouth but her dad was now asking her a question. "So where were you last night, sweetie? You didn't get home until 11, were you with Finn again?"

The conversation with Leslie rushed back to Rachel's mind and she almost choked on her pancake. She had really like Leslie, just like Quinn in her letter had predicted. Rachel wouldn't have admitted it to anyone but she couldn't wait to see Leslie again. They'd exchanged numbers right before Rachel had left so that they could meet again soon. Leslie had been incredibly beautiful with the most gorgeous auburn hair and blue eyes. Rachel remembered how even though they had just met, Leslie made Rachel feel welcome and as if they had been friends forever. Everything just had seemed easier when she was with Leslie last night.

"Oh no, I was with Kurt. We were celebrating, since he got into NYADA too," Rachel lied and hoped that her fathers wouldn't call her out on her bluff. The last thing she needed was for one of them to make fun of her for possibly feeling a little attracted to this new girl. Was that even what she was feeling? Leslie was great and she had enjoyed the company and someone who finally understood her feelings about Quinn. But was it really a crush she was nursing, or just a need to go deeper into Quinn's past to better understand her. Whatever it was, she longed to see the girl again. After about 10 more minutes of breakfast, Rachel looked down at her watch and saw that she should get going on her way to school, "I've got to go, I'll see you guys after school!"

Rachel's whole day at school was boring, as always. She was barely paying attention since she really didn't see the need with it being the last week of school. Wow, Rachel thought, my last week at McKinley. Part of her was incredibly sad to be leaving her high school years behind but then she remembers where she was heading. New York. She was going to be accomplishing so much in the next few years and with her best friend by her side. As Rachel began to make her way down to Glee club rehearsal for the day she felt her phone vibrate and felt a smile stretch across her face when she saw the text from Leslie.

Leslie: Hey I was thinking maybe we could go get drinks later? Is seven good for you? :)

Rachel: That sounds great for me…where?

Leslie: How about that bar over on 42nd street?

Rachel: Sure! Can't wait :)

Now that Rachel had something to look forward to tonight, she could barely contain her enthusiasm during Glee. But then she remembered she had asked Mr. Schuster if she could sing a song in honor of Quinn. It had sounded like a good idea at the time when she had asked him, but now as she walked into the choir room and saw Finn's scowling face she didn't know how well this was going to go over. Usually she would have taken the empty seat next to Finn but she had to remind herself that things had changed. He didn't want her anymore. Or maybe it was her that didn't want him. Either way, she definitely felt more comfortable in the seat in between Kurt and Santana. After a few minutes of useless chatter, entered the choir room and told Rachel it was her turn to sing. Rachel usually wasn't a person with a fear of offending people but right now the last thing she needed was Finn getting angrier at her. She prayed silently that hopefully he wouldn't get too mad. The music played from behind her and she immediately lost her temporary stage fright and began to sing in honor of Quinn.

Louder, louder the voices in my head

Whispers taunting, all the things you said

Faster the days go by and I'm still

Stuck in this moment wanting you here

Time, in the blink of an eye

You held my hand, you held me tight

As soon as Rachel had come home from her meeting with Leslie she had begun research on what song she could have sang in Quinn's honor for this week's glee assignment. After the weekend, everyone had calmed down from the buzz of Quinn's death the previous Friday and had decided that this week they would spend honoring Quinn as well as finding a way to say goodbye to both her and each other. Although, Rachel had focused more on the saying goodbye to Quinn than the other people in the room.

Now you're gone and I'm still crying

Shocked, broken, I'm dying inside

Where are you?

I need you

Don't leave me, here on my own

Speak to me, be near me

I can't survive unless I know you're with me

Rachel looked around at the familiar faces in the choir room as her words of the song echoed off the walls. Most of her friends were visibly sad, while others were trying to hide their pain but it was easy for Rachel to tell. And then there was Finn. He had a sour look on his face as if she was making out with someone else right in front of him. The more and more annoyed the boy became the more Rachel began to wonder if he even cared that Quinn was dead at all. This wasn't about them right now, it was about remember Quinn and Finn was doing a lousy job of it.

Shadows linger, only to my eyes

They took, they broke, they tore out your heart

I miss you, you hurt me, you left with a smile

Mistaken you sadness was hiding inside

Now all that's left are the pieces to find

The mystery you kept, the soul behind the guise

Somewhere in the middle of the verse, Rachel lost her cool and felt tears begin to come down her cheeks. As she looked around she saw that some of the other glee clubber's eyes were wet with tears too. She hadn't expected to get so emotional, but images of Quinn's face flashed through her mind and her heart began to ache terribly. Santana was now clutching Brittany's hand tightly as she too remembeed their friend. As hard as everything was for Rachel, Santana was going through a lot too. Quinn, her and Brittany were the unholy trinity and she had never thought something like this would be the thing to tear them apart. It made her long for Quinn to be back as she felt a tear drip down her face.

Where are you?

I need you

Don't leave me, here on my own

Speak to me, be near me

I can't survive unless I know you're with me

Where are you?

Where are you?

As Rachel finished her song her audience stood up to give her a standing ovation. Except Finn. But she pretended not to notice and reminded herself that every great artist has their critics. After the applause died down, Rachel wiped the remainder of tears from her cheeks and forced a smile to her peers. The bell rang, signaling the end of school and Rachel took one final bow before grabbing her back and beginning to leave the choir room. As she was exiting she felt a hand on her arm spinning her around and was displeased to see Finn standing behind her.

"Can I talk to you?" He whispered in a low voice as if he was afraid of others hearing him

"Not if you're going to give me a lecture on my song choice. I already sensed how much you hated it by that terrible look on your face," Rachel said, feeling a sting of more warm tears come to her eyes at the pain she was feeling. She forced herself not to cry and swallowed hard.

"Not about that. Something else. Please?" Finn asked her, his eyes pleading for her to say yes. She sighed, feeling like she would end up losing anyone and this was definitely not one fight she wanted to have right now. Slowly, Rachel nodded and then followed Finn into an empty class room to talk. Finn began to pace back and forth for a few minutes, which left Rachel wishing he would hurry up and spit it out so that she could get home to prepare for seeing Leslie tonight. Rachel began to tap her foot impatiently and then flinched a little when Finn came to an immediate, sharp stop from his pacing. "I don't know how to tell you this. Or even why I'm telling you this to be honest. But...I'm joining the army."

Rachel stared at him for a long minute, trying to take in what he was telling her. The army? Was he insane? Or did he just want to leave her with more pain on top of Quinn? She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, wondering what in the world had possessed him to do this and she sure hoped it wasn't to prove some stupid point to her. The tears from moments earlier came back to her eyes even though she didn't quite know why. Sure, Rachel sort of still cared about Finn but she didn't want to anymore. He'd hurt her too many times in the past and their conversation on Monday was just one more heartache to add to the list. And now here he was hurting her again, even if that wasn't his intention. He was staring at her when she finally opened her eyes, waiting for her response. Rachel wasn't even sure how to come up with a response so instead she just shook her head. All she knew was that she had to get out of here before she started crying in front of him. So without another word or thought or gesture, Rachel gathered her stuff and left a dumbfounded Finn behind.

After hours of getting ready- and a few tears shredded thanks to Finn- Rachel was saying goodbye to her dads and heading out to meet Leslie. Of course, she told her dads she was just going over to Finn's but they really didn't need to know the truth. Why she hadn't told them about Leslie yet, Rachel wasn't quite sure. She had told them about Quinn's suicide but not about the letters. Rachel figured they didn't need to worry about her anymore than they already might be. As she climbed into her car and began to drive, she tried to remind herself to not worry about Finn. He wasn't her boyfriend anymore, so she couldn't control him and she certainly didn't want to. It was just felt to her that with Finn leaving for the army she was losing every part of her high school years. Without Finn and Quinn in her life she probably would still have been the dorky girl in glee club that no one paid any attention too. Finn had showed her she was more than that. And Quinn, well Quinn and her had become good friends which made Rachel feel just a tiny bit higher on the social latter of high school. But now high school was ending and all her ties with it were gone. Sure, she would stay in contact with the glee club and Kurt was moving to New York with her, but everyone else would be scattered in a few months possibly without ever hearing from them again.

Rachel pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant/bar that Leslie had suggested and looked over herself in the car mirror one last time. She knew that Leslie was aware Rachel wasn't over 21, and it hadn't seemed like Leslie was either, so she was a tad surprised that the girl had asked her for drinks. Maybe it was a good way to get to know each other without it having seemed too much like a date. Rachel was still a bit unclear about if it was or not but either way she was going to have a good time just her and Leslie. As she entered through the glass doors, she saw Leslie immediately at the bar with a happy smile on her face. Rachel was a little taken aback when Leslie greeted her with a hug, but then took the opportunity graciously to hug the beautiful girl. Leslie was at least a few inches taller than Rachel (as most people were) but Rachel really didn't mind in the slightest bit. As the two separated from the hug, Rachel took a minute to take in what Leslie was wearing. She was wearing a black sequined top that hugged over her curved perfectly paired with tight grey skinny jeans that looked to Rachel as if they were painted on they were so tight. Rachel also couldn't help but stare at how amazing Leslie's ass looked in the pants. Self consciously, Rachel looked down at her green and black mini dressed and couldn't help but feel boring in comparison to the incredibly hot girl in front of her.

"Hey," Leslie spoke up, sensing Rachel's discomfort in what she was wearing, "You look beautiful." Rachel felt a blush creep up on her cheeks at the compliment, and watched as Leslie reached over for Rachel's hand. Trying to keep her breathing steady, she acted as if it was no big deal and smiled fondly back at Leslie. They began to talk more and more, laughing and sharing stories about everything under the sun. By the time the night came to a close, Rachel felt definitely buzzed and knew there was no way she could drive home drunk. She couldn't call her dads since they didn't know she was out drinking and they were probably both asleep by now. Even though they weren't full on drunk, they had enough liquor in their systems that it wouldn't have been very safe to drive. Leslie had been smart out of the two and had ridden a cab on the way over so she wouldn't have a car to deal with. Rachel mentally slapped herself for not being as smart.

"Do you want me to call someone to drive your car home for you?" Leslie asked biting her lip and feeling sorry for the Rachel's situation.

"Nah, it's alright. I'll just call one of my friends to take me home," Rachel paused as she saw Leslie's taxi pull up. "I had a really great time tonight hanging out with you. Maybe we could do it again sometime?" Leslie pretty much squealed with delight at the idea and gave Rachel another big hug before finally exiting into her taxi. Rachel watched as Leslie drove away waving goodbye from the backseat. Once she was out of sight, Rachel pulled out her phone and called Kurt's cell phone.

"Hello? Rachel why are you calling me? It's almost midnight," Rachel felt a little bit of remorse for calling him so late but could tell from his voice that he hadn't been asleep. She knew very well that Burt and Carole always stayed out late on Tuesdays on various meetings for the city council. So every Tuesday Blaine would come over to the late hours and then end up sleeping there as well. It didn't bother Burt and Carole but it had bothered Rachel and Finn to hear the two of them moaning and groaning all night long.

"Can you and Blaine come pick me up? I had too much to drink and now I have my car and no way home," Rachel felt a tad bit embarrassed for asking much of him but knew that he didn't mind as much as he wanted her to think he did. Within ten minutes Rachel saw Kurt's car pull up and saw the two boys emerge from the front seat. Blaine had decided to be the one to drive Rachel's car home for her, so Rachel climbed willingly into the front seat of Kurt's car next to her best friend. She wasn't even in the car for a minute before Kurt started bombarding her with questions. Who was she with? Why was she out so late? Was it her new boyfriend?

"It was a girl," Rachel started catching Kurt a little off guard, "She was Quinn's girlfriend last year. I met her because Quinn told me to meet her in one of the letters. So we started talking yesterday and then this morning she asked if I wanted to go get drinks with her. Her names Leslie and she's absolutely gorgeous. She had this amazing reddish brown hair that makes me just want to run my hands through it all the time. And her eyes, Oh my god her eyes, they're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Rachel was cut off by Kurt's immediate laughter.

"Wow," He said, chuckling, "So you really must like this girl. Didn't take you very long to bounce back from Finn. So you had fun on this date I presume?"

"Well, it really wasn't a date," Rachel bit her lip, "I mean, she never said it was a date and I didn't want to scare her off by calling it a date."

"Does she act like she likes you?" Kurt asked and Rachel nodded. Leslie had been the one to reach for Rachel's hand and initiate both hugs. "Then go for it! Ask her out! You never know if you don't try!" Rachel had to agree with Kurt on that one. What could it hurt to ask Leslie out on a date? And she had the perfect thing in mind! The annual Lima fair had just opened for the summer and it was the perfect place for a first date. Kurt finally dropped Rachel off at her house and Blaine pulled her car into the drive way. She thanked both of them and quickly ran inside- quietly to not wake her dads- and dialed Leslie's cell phone to ask her out. Sure it was a little late, but Rachel knew well that Leslie would be up.

"Hello?" Leslie had awnsered on the second ring. Even though they'd been apart for 30 minutes, Rachel felt a surge of butterflies run through her stomach at the girl's voice.

"Hi, it's Rachel."

"Hi Rachel," she could practically hear the smile in Leslie's voice when she said her name, "What's up?"

"I was just…um... I was wondering if maybe you would want to go to the fair with me tomorrow? It just opened yesterday and it sounds like a lot of fun so I wanted to bring a friend and I also want to be able to get to know you better," Rachel could feel herself start to nervously ramble but it seemed as if her mouth wouldn't stop.

"Rachel," Leslie finally said, cutting her off and sounded amused at the brunette, "Is this your way of asking me out on a date?"

"I think it is." Rachel had defiantly felt something between her and Leslie. And it took her mind off her troubles for a while. So what if she going out on a sort of date with a girl? She could date whoever she wanted.

"In that case," Leslie retorted, "I would love to. Why don't I pick you up at 4 tomorrow?" Rachel felt her insides become all warm and fuzzy at the fact that she would now get to spend the day with this amazing girl she had been harboring a bit of a crush on. They finished the call and Rachel told Leslie she would text her the address to pick her up at. As she got into bed Rachel sighed happily. Yes, she thought, things were definitely beginning to look up for her.

A/N Again the song was called Haunted by Kelly Clarkson. The next chapter will be their date :) Reviews are always immensely appreciated ! Alright bye until next Monday xoxo