Rachel's POV:
All I had to do this week was to avoid Jesse, I mean I could have talked to him about this whole 'I love you' situation but at the moment I just wanted to get through this week. At the end of the week I would be able to talk to Quinn and Santana, they would know what to do. I appreciated everything that Shelby was trying to tell me but what did she know? She was my age a million years ago and just because something terrible happened to her didn't mean that the same thing would happen to me.
Avoiding Jesse in the morning was easier than it was to avoid him through out the day but even that was easier than when it came down to having to avoid him during vocal tech. We were trapped in a small room with fifteen other kids and a teacher, it was only a matter of time before he brought up the whole situation from last night.
"So can anyone tell me why it is important to have good singing posture?" Shelby asked and no one raised their hand, probably out of fear of being wrong. For some reason Shelby had this way of making someone feel like complete crap if they answered anything wrong and after the first few times everyone stopped answering her questions all together.
"Rach, we need to talk." Jesse whispered and I nodded to appease him but honestly there was no way in hell that I was going to talk to him if I could avoid it. But I wasn't going to let him know that.
"Jesse since you seem to have something to say, why don't you answer my question." Shelby said and Jesse sighed.
"It's important to have good singing posture because it frees up the air column and allows singing to become easier." Jesse said and Shelby nodded as she continued on with her lecture.
Time seemed to drag on during vocal tech and when it was finally done I tried to leave as quickly as I could but it seemed like Shelby had other plans for me.
"Rachel a word." Shelby said as I was about to leave and I sighed knowing that Jesse was just going to be waiting for me outside of the door when I got done with this conversation.
"Yes Ms. Corcoran?" I asked being as there were still a few students leaving the classroom and I did not want to be disrespectful and call her Shelby in front of other kids.
"Ms. Holiday is waiting for you in my office." She said and I starred at her dumbfounded. I had VA rehearsal in ten minutes, there was no way that I could fit in a study session now.
"But-"
"No buts, you aren't attending VA rehearsal this week. You are studying for the mid term that is coming up in your math class while everyone else rehearses choreography. You will learn anything we go over in rehearsal during your lunch lessons being as you can't sing again this week."
"So the entire time that VA is rehearsing I have to be studying? That is like math over load, I will die if I have to do that." I complained and Shelby smirked.
"You aren't going to be doing it the whole time. After the first two hours Dakota Stanley is coming in to work with VA so I am going to grab you and we are going to go shopping for the new house and the continue packing and begin the process of moving." Shelby said and I rolled my eyes.
"I can't believe you are letting that troll work with VA again."
"Well the only reason that troll is working with VA again is because you won't be there. He is a great choreographer Rachel, and to be the best you have to have the best." Shelby said and I shrugged.
"I think if you coached a group that really wanted it and put their heart and soul into it you could go all the way. The only problem with that would be is that most of the kids in your program are soulless automatons." I joked and Shelby gave me a look before she smirked.
"Go, Ms. Holiday is waiting." Shelby said and I gave her a little smile before I headed into her office for two hours of torture.
After an hour and a half of math I was completely numb and Ms. Holiday could tell. Of course it wasn't that hard to tell when the person you were suppose to be teaching was starring at the clock and tapping their pencil constantly.
"I don't see why you are being tutored, you understand this information." Ms. Holiday said and I sighed.
"I know but this is what happens when you stop focusing in class and you stop doing your homework. Apparently because I failed on my own accord I now have to suffer through tutoring until I can prove that I don't need it."
"That sucks. Maybe we can do something fun with all this math stuff, what do you think?" Ms. Holiday asked and I shrugged.
"I don't think that there is a way to make this math fun, it's just boring and I don't need to be tutored which makes it worse."
"Well if you think that then you shouldn't have done so poorly the first part of the semester." Shelby said as she walked into her office. "Thank you Ms. Holiday, we will see you tomorrow." Shelby said and Ms. Holiday nodded as she gathered her stuff and left Shelby and I alone.
"I really don't need the tutoring." I said and Shelby shrugged.
"Your grades earlier this semester didn't prove that to me. Get your stuff together and lets get going." Shelby said and I sighed as I packed up my math work and waited for Shelby to do that same with her things.
Once we were both packed up we headed out to Shelby's car so that we could leave. I wasn't sure what exactly she planned for us to do but I was just glad that I was not doing math anymore.
"So you've been avoiding Jesse today?" Shelby asked and I gave her a weird look.
"No, how do you even know, not that I have been or anything." I said and she smirked.
"You know that you are a really bad liar."
"Oh really because I lied to your face last week and you didn't seem to notice." I bit seeing that I might have said the wrong thing as Shelby's grip on the steering wheel tightened so her knuckles turned white.
"And I thought you learned your lesson to not lie to me." Shelby snapped back and I sighed.
"I just don't know what to say to Jesse. I know how I feel but I'm not quite sure so I have been avoiding him. Can we just not talk about this? I'm not really in the mood to talk about Jesse at the moment."
"So we need to buy furniture but I think that the first thing we should do is to pick out paint colors. Michelle sent over pictures of all the rooms and I think that if we can get most of that done today I can talk to the painters and get everything done by the time we move in on Friday." Shelby said and I was just grateful that she had decided to change the topic.
"Are we picking out paint colors for all the rooms?" I asked and she shrugged.
"I want to get most of the rooms done today but I guess if we don't get to every room the world isn't going to end, why?"
"I just don't think that I can make the commitment to a color until I have lived in the room for at least a day. Though that's not to say that I can't find a color and fall in love with it today." I rambled and Shelby smiled.
"Like I said it wouldn't be the end of the world or anything." Shelby said as the car fell into silence before Shelby started talking again. "So I've been thinking that maybe you would like to spend some time at your aunt's house, you know like once a week or something." Shelby said as she looked over at me and I rolled my eyes.
"Isn't your sister seeing enough of me as it is?" I joked and Shelby laughed and then shook her head.
"Well my sister would like to see you more but that wasn't the aunt that I was talking about." Shelby said and I felt my heart drop a little.
"She doesn't want to see me." I said as I looked out the window trying to not let the fact that my own family wanted nothing to do with me get me down.
"Well I talked to her the other day-"
"You what?"
"I had to get the custody papers signed by her and while I was there we talked about you maybe going over there for dinner once a week." Shelby said and I was confused about what was going on.
"You talked to my aunt Mia? Like actually talked to her, not yelled, not anything else, but talked?" I asked and Shelby nodded.
"Yes we talked, and she even invited me over for dinners as well. You've lost enough family as it is Rachel, I can't stand to see you lose anymore. And look if you are more comfortable going alone to your aunt's house I understand that-"
"Thank you." I said cutting Shelby off and she looked at me and smiled.
"What for?" Shelby asked and I rolled my eyes.
This woman had just gone and given me the biggest gift that anyone had ever given me and she wanted to know why I was thanking her?
"For putting me ahead of yourself." I said as we pulled into the parking lot of the paint store.
"What?" Shelby asked confused and I realized that I was going to have to spell this whole thing out to her.
"I know that you and my aunt Mia don't get along so I can only imagine how you feel having to share your time with me with her. Just thank you for not taking away another part of my family. I might not be that close with my aunt but I would never want to lose her." I said as a single tear rolled down my face and Shelby leaned over and wiped it away.
"I would never ask you to choose between her or me Rachel, that isn't fair. I know that you don't have a lot of options of where to live and that was my fault but being as I can't really help that situation I might as well let you have other options open when it comes to being able to see your family. I don't want to get in the way of any connections you have left with your dads."
"So I guess we should go look at paint colors before I start bawling." I joked as I took off my seatbelt and Shelby let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, I would hate for the sales associates to think that I was being mean to you which was why you started to cry." Shelby joked as we both got out of the car.
"Shelby?" I asked and she stopped and gave me her full attention.
"Yes Rachel?"
"Was Dakota coming in the only reason why you left?" I asked and Shelby shook her head.
"No. He was just the only person I could get to cover for me so you and I could go out during the afternoons. I mean at least VA is having a useful rehearsal unlike when I leave a student in charge. Why are you asking?" Shelby questioned and I shrugged.
"I was just wondering why you would let that incompetent man anywhere near Vocal Adrenaline after what happened last time." I teased and Shelby rolled her eyes as she pushed me into the store.
"You only say that because he made fun of your nose." She teased.
"Oh, you mean the nose that I inherited from you. You know that in essence he was making fun of your nose." I sassed back.
"Oh whatever!" She said as we walked over to the rack of paint color choices and I smirked.
Things were going to take time with Shelby but I could tell that things were getting better. She was willing to take things slow and even more than that, she put me ahead of everything including Vocal Adrenaline and herself. Yes things were finally getting better.
Shelby's POV:
"So what do you think of this color for my room?" I asked Rachel as I held up a color that looked appealing to me.
"Really? Purple?" She asked and I sighed as I put the paint swatch down and looked at it again.
"What is so wrong with purple?"
"Nothing, it's you just use that color for everything. I get that it is your favorite color, I do, but do you really want to wake up to a purple room everyday?" Rachel asked and I thought for a minute before I nodded.
"You know what, yes I do want to wake up every morning to a purple room, in fact I want to wake up every morning to a room painted this color purple." I said as I added the purple swatch to the others that we had chosen for other rooms in the house.
"Well like they say, you can lead a horse to water-" Rachel teased and I just shook my head.
"Have you decided if you are going to pick out a color for your room today or are you going to wait?" I asked and she held up a green color.
"Done. What else do we have to do?" Rachel asked and I shrugged.
"Go home, call the painters, pack, eat dinner. You know the usual stuff."
"Yes because packing and calling painters are normal activities." Rachel said and I nodded.
"It's going to be normal for our lives for the rest of the week, maybe longer."
"Yeah I guess. So do I get to pick out new bedding for my room or do I have to keep what you have?" Rachel asked.
"Of course you get new things for your room. The only thing you won't get new is a new mattress being as I just bought the one you are using. You can get a whole new bed frame and bed set if you want."
"Really? Can I get a new headboard? There was one that I saw in a magazine a few months ago that I love but I didn't really need it at my aunt's house." Rachel said and I nodded.
"We can look at it, I won't rule it out."
"But that doesn't mean we will get it." Rachel said defeated and I shook my head.
"I never said that we weren't going to get it I just said I won't rule it out. You never know you could find something else that you might want more than that head board."
"I won't." Rachel said and I just smiled knowing that this girl was as hardheaded as I was.
When we got to the condo Rachel went ahead and started on another box in the living room while I called the painters and arranged for them to pick up the paint that we had chosen this afternoon and go ahead and get started on painting all the rooms.
"Shelby what's this?" Rachel asked as she walked in with a box that had been long forgotten among the clutter in my condo.
"That would be your baby box." I said and Rachel gave me a strange look as she took the lid off the box and looked inside.
"But you barely knew me when I was a baby." Rachel said and I nodded as I took the box from her and set it on the table so we could go through it together.
"I didn't know you for that long but from the short time you were with me I picked up a few things, and then I have other things from when I was pregnant with you that your fathers didn't have." I said as I pulled out the scrapbook that Jennifer had surprised me with after Rachel was born.
"So this scrapbook has pictures of me in it?" Rachel asked as she opened to the first page and saw the hospital cover that had her tiny footprints stamped on it.
"You have my footprints?" She asked and I nodded.
"Your fathers didn't want them being as they were going to make gold cast of your feet or something like that so I asked the nurse if I could have them."
"This is really cool." Rachel said as she flipped through the pages and I just smiled as I watched my daughter look at the book I practically lived with for the first two years of her life.
"You can keep it if you want." I said and Rachel looked up at me.
"But it's yours." She said and I shrugged.
"And now it's yours. I mean the entire book is about you so why shouldn't you keep it?"
"But these are all the memories that you have with me." She said and I shook my head in disagreement.
"No those aren't the only memories that I have of you and I don't need that book to remember those memories. Plus you and I are making new memories Rachel and that is all I need."
"I don't know what to say. My dads didn't have any of these pictures and the sonograms were all altered being as they had your name on them. This is a missing piece of my life, thank you Shelby." Rachel said as she closed the book and clutched it to her chest as she got up and walked out of the kitchen and I went through the rest of the contents in the box.
There was a blanket that Rachel was wrapped in at the hospital before her dads had them wrap her in the pink silk blanket they had purchased. There were also the hospital bands that we wore until they had new ones printed for Rachel without my name on it. And then there was the sign that they put on her crib that said baby Corcoran before that was reprinted as well.
"So are you going to help me pack or are you just going to take a walk through memory lane all night?" Rachel joked and I gave her a look as I started to repack the box.
"Alright, I'm coming." I said as I put the box with the rest of the packed things and Rachel and I went about packed up more of the room.
It was around seven when Rachel went ahead and ordered something for us for dinner. I had been talking to Bryan about me taking cooking lessons and we were going to start as soon as I could find some free time, but until then it was all take out and left overs for us.
"So are you even going to tell me what kind of food you ordered?" I asked and Rachel shook her head.
"Nope, I got to pick so it's going to be a secret." Rachel said as she settled down onto the floor and went back to packing one of the last boxes we had in this room.
"Three more boxes should do it." I said and Rachel nodded.
"It should, although I don't get why we didn't start in the kitchen, it is the one room in the house that we just don't use." Rachel teased.
"Hey I make one mean breakfast in that kitchen." I said defending myself which led to Rachel laughing.
"And that is about all you can do."
"Oh and you can do so much more?" I asked and Rachel gave me a look.
"I made pizza which was dinner. Dinner is totally better than breakfast."
"But breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Plus you can only make that one thing, from what I've heard your cooking is as disastrous as mine."
"What? You had the pizza I made."
"And what else can you cook?" I asked and Rachel was about to answer when there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Rachel said as she got up to run to the door when I caught her pant leg and pulled her back down.
"I think I'll get it being as I am the one who has to pay." I said as I hopped up and grabbed my wallet and headed towards the door as the person started to knock again.
"I'm going to have to tip big being as they brought the food so fast." I joked and I heard Rachel laugh a little as I opened the door to find Jesse, not the delivery man.
"St. James, what are you doing here?" I asked seeing that he was still wearing his VA outfit meaning that he had come straight from rehearsal.
"I need to talk to Rachel." He said and I stepped outside and shut the door behind me.
"She's grounded so I can't allow that." I said and he nodded.
"I know that she is grounded but please Shelby it will only take a few minutes." He pleased and I shook my head again.
"I said no Jesse. I have to hold Rachel responsible for her actions and me letting you see her would just show her that I am willing to bend my rules and I'm not. I'm sorry Jesse but if you want to see her then try to find her tomorrow at school."
"Shelby-"
"No Jesse, this isn't Vocal Adrenaline where you can bend my rules to your liking. This is my home and what I say here sticks. I'm sorry but good night." I said as I slipped back into the house and saw Rachel standing in the hallway.
"That wasn't the delivery person was it?" She asked and I shook my head.
"It was Jesse, he wanted to talk to you." I said and Rachel nodded as she folded her hands over her chest.
"And?" Rachel asked and I shrugged.
"I told him that if he needed to talk to you he could try and do it tomorrow while you were at school." I said and Rachel nodded.
"I'm not ready." Rachel said and I smirked as I pulled her into a hug.
"I know and that's okay. So how about we go back to packing and when the real delivery guy gets here we can stop for the night." I said and Rachel smiled as she looked up to me.
"Okay, but I get to answer the door." Rachel said and I gave her a look.
"I don't know what you are up to young lady but I'm not sure I'm going to like it." I said and she shrugged.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Rachel said as she walked back into the living room and started packing again.
When the delivery man actually showed up I let Rachel go and answer the door, against my better judgement to find that it was not a delivery man at the door but it was my brother-in-law wielding a few tupperware containers of food that Rachel requested he make and bring for us.
"Bryan please tell me you didn't just cook this because Rachel asked." I said as I saw him unloading all the food that he brought and he shrugged.
"It was nothing. Plus there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for this kid."
"BRYAN! This is not something that you should be doing. Rachel was suppose to order take out not call you and have you make a gourmet dinner." I said as I glared at Rachel who was hiding behind her uncle at the moment.
"This is what I was making for Jennifer and myself we had extra so I heated it up and added a little to it and then brought it over, it was nothing."
"Not again, is that understood?" I asked the two of them and they both nodded.
"Yes ma'am." They said in chorus as they both gave me puppy dog eyes and I couldn't help but laugh at their antics.
"Now what sorts of deliciousness do you have for us Bryan?"
A/n: SO I finally got around to posting this chapter and hopefully I can get new chapter out soon, but we will see.