Chapter 12:Keep Holdin' On
-Rachel Hudson-
The day the news came, I didn't act like a prima donna.
I didn't scream, didn't act like me.
I just sat down, and quit my everyday life.
No more broadway. I flew home.
No more thinking. I embraced Finn.
No more Mr. Schuester.
I cried.
At the will reading, I didn't think of anything.
I was having severe flashbacks.
"You aren't being FAIR!" I yelled at him, storming out. "Maybe one of these days you can create lessons WITHOUT ruining my life. "Welcome back, Rachel." He said. "Why can't you understand that this Jesse guy doesn't like you as much as I do?" Finn said. "Break a leg." I said, looking at him. "Will you marry me?" He said, at our graduation.
Mr. Schuester stayed in the room.
He just sighed, paitent with me.
I smiled. I knew April Rhoades was no good for the club.
Finn. My future husband smiling.
Quinn. My past enemy glaring.
Kurt, my future best friend.
I had never been fair with him, especially during the second semester of my sophomore year.
"I love you." He said, starting our true love.
I had never said yes to anything faster. Not even a Barbara solo.
"And now, Rachel." Mr. Schue said on the TV.
I looked up at the man who had been the bane of my existance and my best friend at different times in my life.
Who had wiped the tears from my eyes and the slushie from my face.
I got up, headed to the front.
I patted Puck on the back, and looked at Quinn.
She smiled.
Kurt smiled at me.
I got to the front of the room, where I had been so many times.
Defying Gravity. Endless Love. Gives You Hell. The Climb(not my best preformance). Express Yourself.
This had been the man that built me. Built Rachel Berry. Built Rachel Hudson.
I can take all the credit, he was the one who truly made me.
He made me into a star.
He made me into a PERSON.
He gave me friends.
He gave me happiness.
He gave me everything I took for granted.
Damn it. Damn it to hell.
Why had I been so bratty to him?
Why had I been so bratty to all of my friends?
Now, Jesse St. James, I'm not sad about, he currently weighs 350 pounds and got a STD that affects his singing..
But when I got to that screen, and the man that had done everything for me, I cried.
I had never been good at holding it in.
"Rachel." He said.
I looked up at him.
He smiled, then laughed.
"Rachel Berry."
I wiped a tear from my eye.
"Rachel, you...it's hard to explain you. At times, you were worse than Sue at tearing apart the club. But then at times, you were the only thing that held it together."
I looked at his eyes.
"Rachel, I know how you feel."
I looked down, at my stomach.
"You had a baby."
I looked up at him.
"And then it was taken away."
I closed my eyes, and the tears flowed.
"But that's okay. You will live. You will win, because you're Rachel Berry. You will never stop being her."
"That's not the only thing I lost." I said, still crying.
"Rachel, I did not get you anything material. I wrote you a letter." He said.
I looked up at him, my eyes open.
I looked back at Mrs. Schuester, and she nodded.
"Thank you, Mr. Schuester." I said.
He smiled.
"Rachel, I will always be your biggest fan. Even if sometimes your only." He said.
I headed back to my seat, crying.
Kurt stood up, and he hugged me.
I smiled, and kissed his cheek.
I walked out of the room, and Finn followed.
"He's g-g-g-gone.." I said, sobs racking through my chest.
"I know. It's okay." He said, holding me.
"No, it WON'T!" I screamed.
"MR. SCHUESTER IS GONE! FOREVER! IT WILL NEVER BE OKAY!" I said.
Finn just stroked my hair, holding me tighter.
I went from crying to sobbing.
Then I finished.
"Thank you." I said.
"I love you." He said, with that smile, and suddenly, we were 16 again.
We kissed.
Together, we went back in.
"And, I have a treat for you kids. It's gonna be what you remember me by, and it's a song. Best way for someone like me to go out." He said, laughing.
We all smiled.
He pulled up his guitar, and began to pluck the strings.
As he hummed, I saw Kurt's head go down, crying.
Then Tina's.
"Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby."
Finn and Puck started to cry.
"Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true."
Santana and Brittney started to cry.
"Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me."
Mike and Matt bowed their heads, and so did Artie.
I could tell they were crying.
"Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then oh why can't I?"
Quinn and Mercedes both started to cry.
"If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can't I?"
I couldn't hold it in.
I started to cry as well.
The video was almost over.
"I love you all. It was worth it." Mr. Schuester said.
Mrs. Schuester went to the front, and turned off the disk.
She wiped her eyes.
"The funeral is in 2 days." She said.
Sunday was the funeral.
-End of Chapter 12-
