Sorry this took so long. Tell me what you think?

i'll just let you read.

xo ~hayleynymphadora

Chapter 25: Sneaking Boredom

Rachel POV~

Dad, Daddy, and Mom won't let me leave the house since we got back from NYC. It's because of the paparazzi, and I've explained over and over that I don't mind them but no one will listen to me. I actually enjoy the fact that they're begging to talk to me. I'm famous and it's all thanks to my wonderful mother! It's amazing, really, having Shelby Corcoran as a mom.

The whole glee club watched our concert; The New Directions, not Vocal Adrenaline. Well, I'm sure Vocal Adrenaline DID watch it, but they weren't as jealous as my friends at McKinley. Kurt continues to gush about it and everyone bombards him at school, asking him questions of what it was like to be there. Even Santana texted me to ask about it.

SANTANA.

Mom, Dad, and Daddy have been arguing since we got back.

"You had NO RIGHT to put her on television like that!" Dad fumes to her. "She isn't ready for fame, she's still in high school—she can't even go to her classes now that she has to avoid the paparazzi—"

"They'll go away in a week or so, LeRoy, believe me on this," Shelby tries countless times to assure him. "Once something more exciting happens in the Broadway world, the hype about our concert will be downgraded, and—"

"I still don't want her talking to any of them."

"Why?!" Shelby fights back. "She WANTS to, and if I coach her on it, she'll know what to say! Isn't this what you've always wanted for your little girl? For her to be famous, and to have all of her dreams come true? I don't understand why you're shoving it all away from her now!"

"Do you think, LeRoy, that this has more to do with the depressing fact that our baby girl is growing up than it does that she's famous?"

"She's only famous because of Shelby. She's not famous on her own, like she wanted. This wasn't her dream. Her dream wasn't to follow in her mother's foot steps, it was to be her own shining star."

"She is her OWN individual whether she's my daughter or not." Shelby argues back.

"YOU DIDN'T RAISE HER."

"BUT SHE'S STILL MY DAUGHTER."

"Hiram, why are you taking Shelby's side?!"

"There ARE NO SIDES, I'm doing what I think is best for Rachel!"

"SO AM I," Shelby and Dad counter in unison.

I roll my eyes and walk away from my eavesdropping position in the hallway and go to my room. Dad and Daddy have been here for the past three hours having this same "discussion". Shelby's obviously growing tired of it and after a while, I agree, it does get tiresome to listen to. I sit down at my desk and try to focus on the homework my dads brought to me from the high school. Shelby has had a substitute in for her, seeing as she can't leave me home alone, afraid that I'll talk to the media, so dads went to pick up my assignments for the week. Amazing, the amount of trust these people have in me.

But they're right to be concerned, I giggle to myself. If they leave me alone, talking to the press is probably the first thing I'll do.

In my opinion, my mom and dads shouldn't even be talking to each other before the hearing next month. But of course no one ever listens to ME anymore. I put my headphones in and blast some Barbra while I study, trying to get through my homework so I can move on to something more enjoyable. I know that Shelby plans a voice lesson with me later on tonight.

. . .

Shelby POV:

I can tell Rachel's getting cabin fever and I can't say I blame her. She just seems so lonely, locked up in her room, working on homework I know she can barely focus on, boyfriend-less, best friend-less until the end of the day, and with no where to possibly go.

I remember what it was like, in the beginning, to be concerned about paparazzi stalking your house. It's not pleasant and I'm half tempted to start a Broadway rumor just to get them out of our hair. It isn't good for the court date next month, and I doubt it's doing much for Rachel's temper. I know for a fact it's doing a hell of a job on mine.

Will has noticed, and I can tell by the way he's been tip toeing around my emotions recently. He's afraid he'll say the wrong thing and irritate me or set me off. I've tried not to seem too irritable recently, and I've tried not to argue with Hiram and LeRoy in front of Rach but it's extremely hard to do when all she does is eavesdrop on us and won't walk away when she's told. I'm not blaming her, not really. I'd want to know what's been going on if I was her, too. Besides, what else does she really have to do, all cooped up in this apartment with nothing but homework to keep her company?

"Hey baby girl," I give her a smile as she walks out to the living room where I'm sitting, trying to read online to see just how popular we are.

"Hi," she says lamely, heating up some water for tea.

"You want to order a super healthy Rachel Berry vegetable pizza?" I ask, pretending to be excited.

"Sure,"

"Okay," I pat the spot on the couch next to me and reluctantly, she sits down.

"What's up with you?" I wonder.

"Nothing's up," she answers immediately. "My homework is done—for the next TWO weeks—if I write any more in my journal I'm going to run out of pages before we're able to go to the bookstore and buy a new one, and I'm out of new music to practice."

"So…boredom?"

"Boredom," she agrees, staring at the black tv in front of us.

"…All caught up on Grey's Anatomy?" I ask her.

She nods.

"Private Practice?"

"Twice," she answers.

"I don't know then, baby girl, I'm sorry," I tell her truthfully. It seems to be the only thing I can say to her anymore. Who knew making her dreams come true would ruin her life so badly? I wish I could just let her talk to the paparazzi like she wants to, but if she does that there's no way they'll leave before the month is out and besides that, her dads have forbidden it. I can't do anything they don't want me to do, or I won't win custody of her next month. "Kurt's coming over in an hour or so," I supply.

"And Will?" she wonders.

The fact that she knows this makes me grin. "And Will," I agree. "We can all eat pizza and talk and—"

"Talk about what?"

"THEY get to go places," I remind her. "They can tell us all about the magnificent outside world."

At this, Rachel perks up a little bit, which makes me smile. "Turn your back to me, Rach, I'll do your hair," I offer. She takes me up on my offer and I start a French braid, which turns into a fish tail. It takes a solid ten minutes—I'm purposely being slow about it. When I finish it's practically perfect and I grin, proud of myself.

She feels it with a soft hand with a small smile before her shoulders drop again.

"So there's ten minutes gone," she sighs. "But what about the next seven days? Maybe? Do we even know when they're going to leave us alone?"

"What's the matter, baby girl?" I can't help but wonder. "I thought you liked the fact that paparazzi are begging you to talk to them,"

This comment makes her smile again. "Well I do, but not when I have to stay in the house forever!"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," I pull her back and tickle her sides, making her kick and squirm with a loud and obnoxious laugh reminding me a lot of my own. "It's not for forever, baby girl. It won't be long now."

"Can't—breathe—"she gasps with a laugh and so I stop, not wanting to make her pass out. "Will it be this horrible in New York?" she wonders, practically panting.

"Not as bad," I let her know. "In New York some kind of big news happens every day. If we were to be living in New York, the hype would have only lasted a couple of days. But you're from LimaOhio. You come from a small town and that's huge in the Broadway world. Things will get better soon, Rach."

Before she can say anything back, Will and Kurt are knocking at our door, bringing pizzas (guess they're psychic or something) and a gift bag. My smile widens as Kurt hands Rachel the gift in a big black bag with a pretty silver design on it.

She stands and grins, opening it up with a wide smile. "You got me a new journal?!" she's ecstatic.

"Wow, she really IS bored," Will mutters in my ear as he kisses me hello.

Rachel flips the huge journal to face me, and I can see that it has Barbra on the front. Of course. Now I understand her excitement.

"Very cool baby girl," I smile. "Now you don't have to worry about filling the other one."

"AND I brought you the new Rihanna CD because it just came out in stores and I know you want to hear it," Kurt's voice is in sing-song. Rachel gasps, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I love you!"

"I know," Kurt grins triumphantly.

My heart sinks, knowing that my daughter lives with me and I can't make her as happy as Kurt just did. This is what I get, I guess, for making a decision without consulting her legal guardians. I could've been her legal guardian. If I had just kept her when I was younger.

Snap out of it, Shelby. She's in a good mood, don't spoil it with yours.

Kurt and Rachel head to her room to gossip and I stay in the living room to talk with Will.

. . .

Rachel POV:

"You miss him, don't you?" Kurt wonders, taking another bite of his slice of pizza.

I swallow a bite of mine. "I miss who?"

"Don't do that to me," Kurt shakes his head. "Shelby might be so gullible but I'm definitely not your mother."

"Thank god or you would have some explaining to do," I laugh it off, taking another bite. "This pizza's really good—"

"Rachel," Kurt sighs. "Come on. Stop trying to dodge, I know you better than that, and I can tell you miss him. A lot."

"Of course I miss him, Kurt. But he's horrible for what he did to me."

"You are better than him, Rachel. You know that. You don't need him to be happy, you're just confused and irritated and you have cabin fever. You're stuck. But you don't need Jesse to get unstuck."

I stare down at my hands, feeling empty. "I need somebody."

"Rachel, you've only been home for a week and a half, this should be like a vacation, have some fun with it."

"It's not just being stuck here, Kurt, it's everything," I explain. "New York was amazing but it was just a distraction. A distraction from mom and dads fighting and all that stuff with Jesse and school and competitions and everything. Now we're back home but nothing can move forward because of all this paparazzi nonsense."

Kurt nods in understanding. "And you need to keep busy in able to move forward."

"Exactly. I feel like I'm going to explode."

Kurt puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm here, Rach."

"And I'm thankful for that. But I just need to keep going, you know? I can't stay here much longer."

"So what are you going to do?"

I don't answer him, but I know exactly what I'm going to do.

. . .

It's very late at night. Mom's fast asleep in her room, and as far as I can see there are no paparazzi hiding outside. I pull my jacket close to me and dial his number.

He picks up on the second ring. "How's my famous girl doing?"

"Are you busy?"

"Not at all,"

"Do you have school tomorrow?"

"Not if you don't want me to,"

"…mind if I come over there for a while?"

"I knew you couldn't stay too mad at me for long." I can practically hear Jesse's smile through the phone. "My door's open, come over when you can."

"I'll be right there,"

I pull on my tennis shoes and sneak out the apartment door, running fast once I do. It's not often that Shelby wakes up easily, but it would be just my luck that she wakes up now. I make it out of the building and down the street and realize that I'm safe. I've made it. I'm out.

I'm almost to Jesse's house when a man with a camera starts to follow me.

Shit.

I throw my hood up over my head and tilt my head down, staring at the ground as I walk.

"Rachel Berry! Miss Berry! What's it like being a famous girl from the small town of Lima, Ohio?"

I ignore him and keep walking. Almost to Jesse's. Almost to Jesse's.

"Are you ignoring me because Shelby is making you? Or is it your dads who are keeping you so quiet? Is it true you're fighting with all three of them? Are you running away now, with the court date so close?"

How the hell does he know about all of this? Is nothing private?

Almost to Jesse's, almost there. Just a few more blocks…

I refuse to look up but realize I should have.

I hear the scream after he pulls me out of the road.

"RACHEL WATCH OUT!" Jesse cries out, grabbing me by the waist and dragging me to the ground. A car speeds by where I was walking just moments before and I let out a broken, staggering breath of relief.

"Jesse," I whisper. "You saved me,"

He kisses my cheek softly. "You're okay," he cradles me in his arm. "It's okay."

The paparazzi man looks as if Christmas just came early.

"What's your name? Did I just hear a Jesse? You just saved Rachel Berry's life!"

Oh god what have I just done?

Jesse actually TALKS to the man.

"Jesse St. James, Rachel Berry's ex-boyfriend. I couldn't just let her die; I'm in love with her,"

Bullshit! You were in love with my MOTHER!

I'm about to protest but before I can I lose energy and everything goes black. The last thing I remember is Jesse looking down at me in confusion and the media guy asking, "What's wrong with her?!"

Suddenly the world is silent and dark.