A/N: It's been so long I know, but I haven't given up on this story. I wanted to post something to remember Cory on this sad day, when he was taken too soon.

Major shout-outs to my two wonderful betas khazrn43 and luvtheheaven.

Finn dropped Rachel off at her house in the wee hours of Saturday morning, after the teens had been instructed to leave the hospital. Funeral arrangements for Mike, were being made, and those who were able were more than willing to attend the ceremony.

"You want to come in?" Rachel asked tiredly, resting her head on the side of Finn's jeep.

"You don't think you're dads would mind?"

Rachel shook her head. "They went to bed hours ago, they won't even notice you're here. I can sneak you out in the morning."

"I have spent the night at your place before, you know," Finn reminded her.

"As part of an elaborate plan to break us up," Rachel laughed.

"Just let me text Kurt and let him know that I'm not coming to the house."

Rachel nodded her head. "I just don't feel like being alone right now."

"I feel the same way." Finn quickly dialed, leaving a brief message.

"And we only have Saturday left together."

Finn shot Rachel an apologetic look.

"Your mom called dibs on you didn't she?"

"You had me the majority of Friday," he said gently. "And she misses me just as much as you do."

"Just not in the same way," Rachel laughed lightly.

"We can do something tonight," Finn promised her. "And I'm seeing you off on the train station Sunday."

"Deal," Rachel said, hopping out of the car. Slipping her key into the lock, she and Finn crept up the stairway and into the bedroom. "I am exhausted."

"Me too." Finn took off his shirt and jeans, leaving only his boxers on.

Rachel ducked into the bathroom. "A shorter version of my night care routine," she muttered, too tired to spend hours in the bathroom. Her brief stint in the dorm rooms had taught her to make a few cutbacks to her extensive nighttime rituals, and Rachel was pleased to find that the effects were mainly the same, and the extra time saved could be devoted to mapping out her life goals, which she was slowly completing.

Finn crawled under the covers, slipping his arms around Rachel's back. "I hear about death all the time at the base, but it's nothing like this."

"Mr. Schue said they were still looking for the driver of the other vehicle." Rachel furrowed her brow. "There has to be some justice in this world."

Finn kissed the side of Rachel's cheek. "Vengeance won't bring Mike back."

"What if that driver hits another person?" Rachel insisted.

"We have to enjoy what we have while we have it," Finn whispered. "Mom told me that at graduation."

"That seems so long ago," Rachel mused. "If I had known that that was going to be the last time we saw Mike Chang – I would have done everything differently. I would have told him that he and Tina belonged together, that he was the best dancer I ever saw, that…" Rachel was unable to finish her sentence, her body beginning to shake.

Finn held her tighter. "We'll see him again – at our last big Glee Club reunion."

Rachel felt comforted by Finn's logic. She had never given much thought to heaven or hell before, but she was willing to believe that there was a place where she could see her friends, regardless of what went on in the rest of the world – it was better than believing in nothing.

Rachel, Quinn, and Mercedes piled into the booth at the local diner. They had invited Tina, Brittany, and Santana so that they could have an all-girls reunion before going their separate ways once more. Unfortunately, Santana and Brittany both left Lima after the hospital; Brittany was intent on seeing exactly what Santana did in Kentucky. Tina had politely refused her invitation, stating that she would rather be alone. Mercedes would have pushed her friend further, had she not known that Artie was stopping by the Cohen-Chang's to check on her.

"At least she isn't alone," Quinn mused, swirling her ice tea with a straw.

Mercedes nodded her head gravely. "I only wish I could be there for the funeral."

Quinn and Rachel seconded her sentiments.

"He would have loved going to New York to see you at the Winter Showcase" Quinn said thoughtfully.

Rachel played with her strawberry salad. "He told me that going to New York was his dream, he was so happy when we went there for Nationals – he didn't even mind losing."

Mercedes laughed, recalling their New York trip so well. "Well I know I'm going to be there."

"Me too," Quinn promised. "It's only a train ride away," she reminded Rachel jokingly.

"I haven't forgotten about the train passes you gave me," Rachel said with a small smile. "I'll use them next year."

"You better."

The threesome were soon lost in their high school memories, recalling wins, losses, and everything in-between.

"I wish we wouldn't have fought so much in high school."

"Over solos?" Mercedes asked.

"Or guys?" Quinn countered with a devilish grin.

"Everything," Rachel explained. "We're not in high school anymore." It was a sentiment that had been repeated several times over the past 24 hours by several Glee kids.

"No, no we aren't," they both agreed.

"Finn and I write letters to stay close to one another – even with the distance between us."

"How is that working out for you two?" Mercedes prodded. Quinn shot her friend a silencing look, but Mercedes continued. "Do you guys feel any closer?"

"We do," Rachel said thoughtfully. "Think of the letters as long chats that you would normally have with someone, where it's just the two of you and no one else. But with the letters, you get to savor and keep them forever."

"You keep all of Finn's letters?" Quinn interjected.

Rachel blushed slightly. "I do. I keep them in a heart shaped tin, pink with white polka dots."

Mercedes couldn't hold back her laughter. "Why that?"

"It was a token that Finn gave me, on what I called our first unofficial date – at the bowling alley."

Quinn crinkled her nose. "I never liked bowling."

"Me neither, but Finn made it fun. Anyway, he helped me bowl a near perfect game, and I got to take a prize from behind the counter – so I picked the heart tin."

"What did you keep in there before the letters?" Mercedes asked.

"Nothing," Rachel laughed, taking a bite of her salad. "After getting the tin, I couldn't think of anything special enough to keep in there – until the letters. The tin came from Finn, the letters are from Finn, and it makes sense."

Quinn nodded her head approvingly. "Finn would write the sweetest little notes when I was pregnant – back before we were telling everyone."

Rachel fixed Quinn a tight smile. Even now, years later, she cringed at hearing about Finn's past with Quinn. They were together for over a year before the unexpected pregnancy, and when things went south between her and Finn, Quinn was quick to jump in and make her presence known. And the way Finn still spoke of her, in a positive light, as a friend and less of an ex.

"Sorry," Quinn said quickly.

"You know Quinn, she loves to hear herself talk," Mercedes joked as an effort to break tension.

"Well I am very fascinating," Quinn grinned.

"That you are," Rachel silently agreed, finishing off her plate.

Rachel and Kurt stood on the train platform, saying their goodbyes once more to friends and family. The mood held a somber tone as promises were made to come to the city in a few short weeks for the Winter Showcase. After the showcase reunion, Christmas was not far behind, and the majority of the Glee Club members were staying local for the holidays this year.

"I still wish you were coming to see the Showcase," Rachel whispered as Finn loaded her bags onto the train. "When was the last time you heard me perform?"

"You can recreate the entire thing for me over Christmas break," Finn promised.

"How long will you be here for Christmas anyway?" Rachel prompted.

"Right now it looks like a five day leave."

"I guess I'll have to take what I can get," Rachel grimaced.

Finn leaned in for a final parting kiss. "This one has to last us until Christmas."

"It will," Rachel promised.

"Quit hogging her and let the rest of us say goodbye," Leroy joked, playfully shoving Finn out of the way.

"You'll get used to their humor," Rachel assured him as she said separate goodbyes for her dads.

Kurt bent his head down in whispers to Burt and Carole with Blaine watching uncomfortably from the sidewalk.

"How long do you think he's going to be mad at you?" Sam asked.

"He hasn't said two words to me since the hospital," Blaine explained. "He doesn't even know why I did it."

"Maybe you two just need some distance," Quinn advised.

"Distance is what caused me to cheat," Blaine grumbled. "We've both been so busy that we've grown apart."

"He has to talk to you some time," Sam pointed out. "Are you going to New York for Rachel's showcase?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The gang gathered together on the station platform, as Kurt and Rachel waved through the tinted windows.

"New York here we come," Rachel sighed.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go back," Kurt muttered. "There's nothing much left for us in Lima besides family."

"Well that's not entirely true," Rachel said slowly. "There are a lot of great memories there."

"When I think of Lima, all I can think of is Blaine – Blaine and what he did."

"Kurt…"

"Don't start defending him to me."

"I wasn't going to. I was just going to say that…that time can heal wounds."

"I am not in the mood for fortune cookie style advice."

"Fine," Rachel held up her hands. "I just don't think you'll be angry at him forever, people don't give up on a love like that."

"Who said it was love to begin with?"

"Kurt," Rachel looked at him knowingly. "The whole Glee Club – heck most of the school knew how you two felt about each other. Prom, duets, dances, dates."

"That was before this happened. He's a completely different person to me now."

Rachel closed her eyes.

"Would you forgive Finn for cheating on you?"

"I did forgive him," Rachel said softly. "I forgave him for Santana and he forgave me for Puck. Those were small mistakes, they don't dictate the entire relationship."

"I'm not talking little slips, I'm talking a full on affair," Kurt said, his voice hardening. "We're not in high school anymore."

"I'll always love Finn, I don't think anything could change that."

"Then I would be really careful around Brody in the future. If Finn ever found about him…"

"Nothing is going on between us!" Rachel cut him off. "I don't know many different times and ways I can say it."

"Then why doesn't Finn know about him?"

Rachel shook her head. "There is nothing to tell."

"Apparently Blaine didn't feel the same way." Kurt left the conversation alone, travelling to another part of the train, leaving Rachel alone with her thoughts.