I'm back lovely people! It seems I write better later at night with LOTS of caffeine! Tell me what you think!
Song: I'll Hold My Breath by Ellie Goulding
Rachel sat in the spa chair, listening to the soothing music coming over the speakers, watching her toes being painted a pretty pink. She looked out the windows to a pretty scene, straight out of a Narnia movie. There were tall evergreen trees covered with powdery, pure white snow. She sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes. She heard her mother, talking easily with the woman who was doing her nails across the room.
Rachel was torn. Her mother had brought her here to make her feel better. She had to admit, so much of her tension and stress was slowly being eased out. But in the pit of her stomach, there was a tightness, as if she was braced for impact. James kept leaving her. He kept leaving and she kept on being beaten and bruised. Being with him felt so good. She blinked quickly to keep tears from falling. Half of her wanted to jump up and run to Lima right that second to be with him. To make the most of every second they had until...
"No," she thought strongly. She wouldn't open that line of thinking. She glanced up and saw her mother peeking at her. Rachel gave a small smile. Shelby returned it and turned to Quinn who sat beside her. She had asked Quinn to come. Ever since Callie had made them reevaluate their friendship, Rachel had been looking for a chance to spend time with the girl. They already had had many girl talks and Rachel was very glad they were back in each others lives.
Shelby examined her daughter, who had looked away again and was looking back out the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, obviously a million miles away. Or seventy-six miles away in Lima. She sighed. Shelby just wanted some way to stop this. Rachel had been emotionally thrown around the whole year. Ups and downs with very few middles. How many more times until Rachel couldn't take it any more. Shelby blinked rapidly to keep her thoughts from going in that direction. She resumed talking to Quinn, who was holding Beth in her lap, playing with the little girl. But she was still worried.
Rachel opened the front door of her house. Her fathers were back in Lima but at a meeting that cold Sunday afternoon. They'd promised they'd be back in for dinner. Rachel lugged all of her stuff from the weekend upstairs. After changing into sweats and a tshirt, she plopped down at her computer and checked her email. She smiled when she saw she had an email from none other than Sebastian Smythe. He had kept his promise and sent her some of his favorite pictures that he'd taken with his parents from China and then India. She scrolled through. Each was more beautiful than the last. At the bottom there was the usual greeting followed by something new.
Rachel,
Hi! Hope you like these. India was a blast!
Also, my parents have to stop in New York for a couple days before we fly over to Oregon. There's some gorgeous waterfalls that they want pics of. Anyway, they said I could meet them there! I'll be in Lima on Wednesday. Wanna have coffee? We should catch up.
-Seb
Rachel smiled and grabbed her phone.
Rachel: See you Wednesday :) U can show me more of ur awesome pictures!
Sebastion: Will do! Cant wait
Rachel couldn't help but smile. She did want to see him. He was a great talker and listener. She was emptying her duffel into the laundry basket when the doorbell rang. She went down the stairs, turning up the thermostat; she was freezing.
She opened the door. All bound up in coats and scarves was James, Mrs. Richards, and Mrs. Schmidt.
"Um hi. Come in," she said, stepping aside so they could come in out of the cold.
"I was just going to make some hot chocolate. Do you guys want some?" Rachel asked after a moment of chilly silence.
"That'd be lovely, Rachel. I'll help you, then we can all talk," Mrs. Richards said unbuttoning her trench coat. Rachel nodded and met James eyes with a tiny, tired smile.
James watched Rachel walk into the kitchen with his mother. He led Mrs. Schmidt into the living room. Mrs Schmidt sat in an arm chair and got on her phone. James listened to the sound of his mother and Rachel talking quietly.
Everytime he saw Rachel, since the night she found out he was leaving she seemed more tired and worn out. It was his fault. That's why he'd asked for this meeting. He understood that Rachel inspired the best and worst of his emotions. That's why contact between the two had to be monitored. He looked up as the two walked in. Rachel held a large tray with four steaming mugs on it. She distributed them and sat down gingerly by James. He breathed in. She smelled like she always did. Like strawberries and sunlight. He thought back. That had been a lyric in the song he'd sung to her asking her to Homecoming. At which he'd left. Hurting her. Again.
"Rachel, I've been talking to Mrs. Schmidt. She agreed that we can have some kind of communication, though limited," James said. He looked at her.
"I have an idea. Two actually," Rachel said.
"Yes?" Mrs Schmidt said.
"Pictures and songs," Rachel said, smiling up at James, "We can take pictures of what's going on around us and send them to each other. Then we can sing to each other with videos or something."
"That sounds very reasonable... And romantic," Mrs. Richards said with a smile. Rachel smiled back. Recently she hadn't been sure about Mrs. Richards. In the kitchen she'd talked to the often stony woman. She'd apologized for everything and had given Rachel a hug.
"I think that would be alright," Mrs. Schmidt said. Rachel wasn't sure but she thought the stony woman's eyes were watering. Then the composure was back. The two women stood and said goodbye. They were going to wait for James in the car. They were gone.
James sighed. He wanted to say something. Something that would ease all her pain. He was carefully choosing his words when Rachel twisted and placed a soft kiss on his temple. Then she rested her forehead on his when he turned to face her. He saw her eyes were closed. He closed his too. Just loving the moment with her. Rachel opened her eyes and placed a tiny hand over his heart. It was beating fast. This was normal because of the OD. She was watching her hand. He interlaced his fingers with hers over his heart. She looked up into his eyes, holding them. They sat, neither moving. Just feeling the heartbeat. Then Rachel grabbed his free hand with hers and placed it over her heart. He felt the steady rhythm, slower than his own. Slowly, imperceptibly at first, he felt his heartbeat slow. Soon it matched hers. He looked down at his hand on her heart. Then looked back up at her face. Tears fell down onto her cheeks and she smiled. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
Rachel walked into school the next morning, a Monday, feeling alright. She reached her locker and pulled off her big coat. She wore a simple sheer white dress that cinched at her waist, a grey knit cardigan and black tights. She wore her shearling lined grey suede ankle booties. Her hair was gathered in a low side bun.
"Hi Rachel! You look pretty!" Brittany said, walking up with Santana, pinkies linked.
"You do Berry," Santana said, "Anyway, Britt and I were gonna go to The Beat tomorrow night. We are kidnapping your tiny butt tomorrow and there will be no arguing that."
"Sounds good," Rachel said with a smile. Santana nodded and began to walk off.
"See you in glee!" Brittany yelled over her shoulder as they walked off. Rachel nodded and walked off to her first class.
After school was a big practice for Regionals. Rachel found herself enjoying it. She threw herself into the group number. At the end, of the number she was posed with James.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"I love you," she whispered back.
The next morning, Rachel woke up to find Santana and Brittany on either side of her in her bed.
"Ahh," she yelled. Jumping up and landing at the end of her bed, she twisted to see Brittany sit up drowsily and Santana rolling her eyes with a smile on her face.
"Your dads let us in," Brittany said, smiling brightly, hugging Barbra the teddy bear to her chest.
"We're kidnapping you," Santana said, smirking.
"Um why?" Rachel asked, running her hand through her tangled mess of hair, letting out a yawn. She was wearing an oversize New York Yankees t-shirt, obviously James'.
"Because of those," Brittany said pointedly at the dark circles under Rachel's eyes, gesturing to her own well-rested eyes.
"Today you'll want for nothing," Santana said with a flourish and stood up. Brittany nodded in agreement.
"First we have a prezzie from none other than Mrs. Solomon, Kurt and I," Brittany said smiling, gesturing to a long, thin box on Rachel's desk.
"I can't wait," Rachel said, rolling off the bed, and walked into her bathroom.
"How's your internship?" Rachel called as she washed her face with her grapefruit scrub.
"It's amazing. I actually talked to the Betsey Johnson yesterday on the phone. It was insane," Brittany squealed, bouncing a little in excitement, "Then apparently Matt sent Mrs. Solomon a video of me dancing and she thought I was super talented and I could go to New York next summer maybe and.." Brittany continued babbling on. Rachel began brushing her teeth, smiling to herself at Brittany's happiness. She came out to find Brittany still talking and laughed when Santana pressed her lips to Brittany's for a chaste kiss to quiet the rambling girl. This escalated rather quickly.
"The guest room is down the hall," Rachel said with a sad smile, turning away.
"Aww Rach, we're sorry!" Brittany said.
"No really, you're fine," Rachel said, "Are you sure?" Santana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Could you go down and start the coffee?" she said, putting a smile on her lips. The two agreed and went out of her room. Rachel heard them talking to her dads. She sighed and scolded herself for getting worked up about a simple kiss between her two friends. She knew that in a week, she'd have nobody to kiss.
"You look great!" Brittany squealed when Rachel came downstairs in the outfit Brittany had put together herself with help from Mrs. Solomon and Kurt. Rachel wore a cozy black oversize sweater over fun blue, red, yellow, and black striped leggings that had snowflakes. She had warm chestnut button Uggs that were folded over ( /view/1807225).
Rachel said good morning to her fathers. They gave her a kiss on the cheeks and said goodbye. They were going to a bed and breakfast for the weekend. They left and Rachel turned to the two Cheerios. Brittany was smiling smugly at the outfit.
"I thought Christmas sweater leggings would go well with the snow, Brittany said excitedly.
Rachel bounded over to the window and couldn't help the smile that came on her face. Overnight it had snowed, covering the ground in a perfect blanket. She grabbed a thermos and filled it as quickly as she could with the warm, streaming coffee and all but dragged Santana and Brittany out into the Winter Wonderland.
The two Cheerios smiled, Rachel looked like a child on Christmas morning.
"You really like snow, don't you Berry?" Santana said, watching as the tiny star turned around slowly, looking at the blinding white, all around her.
"Ever since I was little. I love it," Rachel said.
James shut his locker. He'd just cleared things with the school about his leave of absence.
"Hey dude," Puck said, coming up beside him with the rest of the glee guys, "How're you doing?"
"Alright I guess," James said, eyes tightening. Puck nodded. He wanted to help, James had become one of his bros and he'd do anything for his Jewish American Princess. All the other guys felt the same way.
The doors to the school opened, letting in a bluster of chilly air. Students turned at the sudden entrance. Rachel entered, Santana and Brittany on either side. McKinley High was speechless. Rachel looked amazing with bright eyes, red cheeks and a small smile that made all of the guys stop and stare. Girls looked on in envy.
James was struck. She was gorgeous. She was everything. His already pounding heart sped up. His sleepless night seemed to never have happened. Puck smirked and elbowed James, who came to himself.
Rachel walked in and felt herself blush. Brittany and Santana had to enter dramatically. With eyes on her, she continued walking. Then she met James' eyes. He stood with the rest of the guys. He looked gorgeous. As their eyes met, he smiled. Rachel came up to him.
James wasn't sure what it was. She looked good. Better than he'd seen her in forever. She reached forward and grabbed his hand in her small cold one, smiling when she felt how warm it was. He took both of her hands, and brought them up to his mouth so he could blow warm air on her cold fingers. She smiled bigger. The group all walked off together, talking quietly about Regionals.
They had glee at the end of the school day. After an excellent rehearsal, everybody was getting their stuff. Santana stood up on Mr. Shuester's table and yelled.
"Hey guys party at Rachel's. Starting... NOW!" Everybody cheered, laughing at Rachel's surprised face. She smiled and shrugged, nodding.
The whole club got to Rachel's empty house, bundled up and went and played in the deep snow in Rachel's front yard. Rachel's neighbors, not used to seeing such craziness, couldn't help but laugh at the high schoolers, who were playing like there was no tomorrow. Several snowmen were made, Blaine's being the best with its bow tie. A huge snowball war broke out. Forts were made and sides were chosen for the most epic snowball fight of the century. Rachel was fighting hard when James scooped her up, running around with her cradled in his arms. Just then it began to snow softly, with huge flakes. James stopped, and the two looked at all the snow falling, marveling at how pretty it was.
Rachel sat in her living room, sipping hot chocolate. The club had completely taken over her house, which had at times seemed huge and cold and empty. Not anymore. Some people had taken showers. Her fridge had been raided. Sam and Puck had guitars and the group was jamming.
"Rachel! Sing something!" Puck yelled. Rachel thought and then looked at Tina.
"Tina? Remember that one song?" She called. She watched as Tina's eyes lit up, remembering.
"Brittany?" Tina said, standing up from next to Mike. Brittany nodded. The three stood up in the cleared space and faced the club. Rachel handed her laptop to Matt after pulling up what she wanted. Her fathers had installed wireless speakers around the house, for her to practice anywhere. Rachel had changed into a dark blue long sleeve cotton t-shirt dress over black leggings. The music began and the girls began a dance that they'd thought up long ago, not doing anything with it until now.
(Rachel, Tina, Brittany, All)
Rachel walked up and began singing the haunting melody.
Breathe air you're not used to, tread floors you don't fall through
Make waves...
You crash a symbol hard
Follow no one, always play the wrong card
Waste days, in foreign places
Shed lights, on your better side
Rachel locked her eyes on James'.
Reassure me that you'll wait for me, wait for me as long as it takes!
And I'll hold my breath, I'll hold my breath
The girls began dancing, perfectly in sync.
Until you see me in your dreams
WE'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust
A sky of diamonds just for us
You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Thsoe fears we'll blow them all way
Fight fires in your best clothes,
Tina walked forward, sweetly touching Mike's cheek.
touch skin with your eyes closed
Chase thunder...
With the volume down
Pack a suitcase, wonder to the next town
Force quit, on your losing streak
Solve a riddle in a magazine, be tongue in cheek
Tell me that we're still too young, that we're still too young and I'll hold my tongue
Until you see me in your dreams
We'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust
A sky of diamonds just for us
You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Those fears we'll blow them all way
Rachel came to stand right in front of James.
I'm here, I'm here to take you
I'll swim, I'll swim to save you
No fall, I'm here to catch you
I will swim
to save you
Until you see me in your dreams
We'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust A sky of diamonds just for us
You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Those fears we'll blow them all way
Hope you liked! Next chappie: REGIONALS! Review please :)