A/N: Hello everybody! This is a story that I've had bobbling around in my head for some time now! It is slightly AU, but will still follow most of the major storylines! It starts off the episode theatricality, where Shelby and Rachel say goodbyes. Let me know what you think.

…

Rachel shivered slightly in the cool spring air and found herself wishing she would have grabbed a jacket for her walk to school.

She knew today was going to be horrible. She knew from the moment she woke up that today would probably be one of the worst days to date in her young adult life. First, she woke up to her Dad and Daddy screaming at each other, again. She unfortunately found herself in the crossfire of that screaming match, which caused her to leave in a hurry, with no jacket, and having to walk to school, rather than waiting for one of them to take her.

Her Dad and Daddy had been fighting a lot the past couple of years. Always about stupid things, but mainly about her. And she couldn't understand why. Couldn't understand what she was doing so wrong that it caused them to fight over who had to take her to school, whose turn it was to sit in at a recital. Sometimes they went for days on end without even speaking to her, like she was a ghost in her own home. And when they did notice her, it was usually to yell, and it had only been escalating the past couple of months.

But the worst part about today wasn't the fact that it started off with getting screamed it, but the fact that her birth mother asked to meet her at the end of the day, and Rachel knew exactly why.

…

Rachel furiously wiped at her eyes hours later on her walk back home, willing the rest of her tears to go away before she got there. She knew watching her mother walk away would be hard, but she didn't think it would be this hard. She had barely known the woman for a week and she was crying harder than she had when her Grandma Berry passed away.

Rachel let out another choked sob when she realized as she approached her house that both of her Dad's were home already and hoped to god they let her go upstairs without so much as a second glance.

She made it up two steps before her name was called from the kitchen.

"Rachel, dinner is ready, set the table."

"Yes Sir." Rachel mumbled as she quickly wiped at her eyes and made her way into the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with her Dad as she reached for the plates.

"What's the matter with you? You've been crying?" Her father asked without an etch of concern laced in his voice, as if he were asking something as simple as the weather.

"Just a rough day today, Daddy."

Rachel jumped, nearly dropping the plates when her Daddy's fist pounded onto the counter.

"Are you lying to me, Rachel."

"No, Daddy, I just had a bad day, that's all." She stuttered, backing herself into the counter.

"And would that rough day have anything to do with the fact you saw Shelby?"

Rachel felt her heart sink into her stomach. "How did you-

"How did I know?" He finished for Rachel. "I know because Mr. Schuester called your father and I to ask us if you were okay. That you had been through a lot this week and he wanted to make sure you were handling things okay."

Rachel saw her Dad step in from the living room and felt her heart sink further. His temper could be much worse than Daddy's

"How could you do this to us Rachel?" LeRoy asked from the doorway of the living room. "We've given you everything and you still went looking for her."

"I swear I didn't look for her she-

Rachel was cut off by a loud slap, and it took her brain a few moments to register that her daddy had hit her. He had never hit her before. Neither one of them, ever. She carefully lifted her free hand to cup her cheek and look at her Daddy in shock.

"Go to your room." He said calmly.

Rachel gently put down the plates on the counter and shot a look at her Dad, feeling happy that he at least looked as shocked as she felt.

She got to her room and carefully laid down on the bed before she let any of her tears fall.

…

It had been two days since Shelby walked away from her daughter for the second time. A full forty eight hours later and she still was unable to go more than two minutes without thinking about Rachel. How talented she was, how beautiful she was, how much she loved her.

But Shelby was selfish. It was selfish of her to come barreling into her daughter's life with no consideration for anyone's feelings but her own. She had two loving parents at home, and Shelby had missed so much. It was too late for them to have that connection, that bond that mothers and daughters have that she so badly yearned for.

Yes, it had only been a full forty eight hours when Shelby got the call that her student's had egged her daughter. And that's how she found herself parked in front of McKinley High School's main office. She had to make sure Rachel was okay.

It wasn't until Shelby was in the hallway outside the office she realized she had no idea what she was doing. She wasn't Rachel's guardian, she couldn't just storm into the office and demand to see Rachel, they would think she was nuts. She shook her head and turned on her heel, getting ready to leave, when she saw her. There she was, sitting in one of the chairs in the office, still covered in egg, despite the fact that Shelby had received the call well over a half hour ago, chewing on her bottom lip. Shelby's heart broke at the sight.

She took a deep breath and walked the couple steps to the office door and opened it, causing the young girl to jump.

"Shelby, what are you-

"Honey, why are you still in those clothes?" She asked while simultaneously crossing the office to sit in the seat next to Rachel.

"Oh." The girl said while glancing down at her sweater and grimacing, "I don't have a change of clothes here and I can't get ahold of either of my Dads, so principal Figgins said I could sit here until the end of the day." She said in a breath. "I can sign myself out but I really didn't want to walk two miles home covered in egg."

Shelby nodded along as Rachel talked, resisting the urge to touch her hand, and gave her a soft smile when she finished. "Sign yourself out and grab your things. I'll meet you by the front entrance." She said as she stood.

"But, your car. I don't want to get it dirty."

"Leather seats wipe up easy." Shelby said with a wink. "Come on, if you're lucky I might even pick us up something to eat."

The car ride started out silent and awkward. Rachel sitting stiff as a board and staring straight ahead, wincing every time they hit a bump, causing egg to drip further down her face.

"You can relax." Shelby said softly, taking her eyes off the road to gauge her daughter's reaction. "I don't bite." She teased.

"Sorry." Rachel said as tense as she was sitting. "I've heard plenty of horror stories about the ruthless Coach Corcoran, so forgive me for being slightly on edge."

Shelby nodded and tried not to tighten her grip on the steering wheel. "Well, I'm not Coach Corcoran right now. I'm-

"Not my mom, you've made that clear enough." Rachel mumbled.

Shelby felt that familiar pang she always got whenever it came to Rachel and tried to keep her face as unreadable as possible. "I was going to say Shelby. I'm just Shelby right now."

"Well, Shelby. Do your soulless drones always make it a habit of egging the competition."

Shelby pinched the bridge of her nose, willing herself to not get agitated with Rachel's attitude. "No." She said curtly. "Usually they just toilet paper houses or their choir rooms, so I'm not sure why the stepped it up."

"Jesse probably told them I was vegan." Rachel mumbled sadly.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Shelby said softly. Cursing on the inside at the little shits that did this to Rachel.

"It's fine." Rachel mumbled. "It's not your problem anyways."

"It is very much my problem." Shelby said fiercely as she pulled into her driveway and turned the car off. Turning so she could fully face Rachel. "They know I don't condone any of their pranks they do on other teams. I usually turn a blind eye to it, but this," Shelby said, gesturing to the mess that was Rachel, "is not okay. Egging someone is wrong in the first place. But egging someone who is a vegan and is very important to me, well, they better hope I let them perform at regionals next weekend."

Rachel gave her a soft smile before muttering a quiet thanks.

"Come on. Let's go inside and you can get cleaned up."

…

Rachel sat under the spray of the water and basked in its warmth. The egg was long gone from her hair and the rest of her body. But she was trying to soak in every minute of being in her mother's shower and using all of her products.

When she finally stepped out nearly a half hour later, she smiled when she saw Shelby had left her two towels and a pair of sweats and a T-shirt to change in too. She tried not to cry as she slipped the t-shirt over her head and was surrounded by Shelby's comforting scent.

She walked out a couple minutes later to find Shelby sitting on her couch flipping through the television. Rachel stood behind the couch awkwardly for a few moments before clearing her throat. "Where would you like me to put the towels."

"Oh, I'll take them." Shelby said, lifting herself off the couch and turning to face Rachel. "Honey, what happened to your face?"

Rachel scrunched her face up in confusion before remembering the bruise that was previously hidden by concealer. "Oh, it must be from the eggs, they threw them pretty hard."

Shelby shook her head, reaching a hand out to gently run a finger over the small bruise. "No. It looks like it's a couple days old." She said matter of factly.

"Ohhhhhh, that's right." Rachel said. Slapping a hand to her forehead. "Finn accidentally elbowed me during rehearsals the other day."

Rachel held her breath as she waited for Shelby to buy her lie.

"That doesn't surprise me." Shelby said, causing Rachel to release her breath. "Do you, uhm, do you want me to brush your hair? I know mine always gets tangled if I don't brush it after I shower." Rachel smiled as Shelby rambled, marking it down as another thing they had in common.

"Yes, please." She said quietly before following Shelby to sit on the floor in front of the couch, settling between her legs as the older woman sat down on the couch and began gently brushing her hair.

"If you want to stay for dinner, I ordered vegan lasagna from a place up the road. If you don't want to or can't, that's fine too. Whatever you want." Shelby said softly.

"I can stay. Both of my dads are out late tonight. That's why I couldn't get ahold of them earlier." Rachel said, feeling her eyes getting heavy at the repetitive motion of the brush going softly through her hair. "I've always dreamt about this," she said, leaning farther back into Shelby's legs. "My mom brushing my hair." She said, her eyes barely open now. "I like it."

…

When Rachel opened her eyes she was lying on a couch and a blanket was wrapped around her. She went to shut her eyes again when she felt soft fingers combing through her hair.

"Rachel, honey, wake up."

She looked up and met eyes that were so much like her own and gave Shelby a soft, embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. I didn't even realize I was tired." She said while sitting up.

"That's okay. You had a long day I'm sure. I was going to let you sleep longer but the foods here and I didn't want it to get cold and I probably should get you back to your fathers."

Rachel's smile faded as reality suddenly came crashing down. This wasn't Shelby suddenly deciding she wanted a relationship with her. This was Shelby taking pity on the girl her students egged. "Okay, thanks for uhm, letting me sleep. And for brushing my hair out for me. And the clothes." She rambled.

"Of course."

…

An hour later Shelby found herself parked outside a pitch black house. The house she lived in for nine months. The house her daughter grew up in and had so many memories in that Shelby would never get to share with her.

"It's late. Where are your dads?" She asked.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Probably still working." She mumbled.

"Oh." Shelby said in surprise. "Do they work late a lot?"

"Yeah, I guess." Rachel grumbled out.

"Okay. Well, you have my number if you need anything. Are you sure you're okay staying home by yourself? I could always bring you back to my house until they get home?"

"It's fine." Rachel said while unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching back for her book bag. "Thank you for bringing me. And for everything today."

Shelby smiled softly. "Of course. Could I have a hug goodbye?" She asked, unable to contain herself any longer.

She was relieved when Rachel gave her one of the first genuine smiles she had seen all day and practically launched herself over the center console into her arms. Shelby gladly took her in and put everything she could into the hug, not knowing when she'd get another chance to hold her baby.

After a minute she reluctantly pulled back and saw the sadness she was feeling mirrored in her daughter's eyes. "I'll see you around, Rach."

"Yeah." Rachel said quietly grabbing her bag and opening the door. "See you around."

Shelby waited until Rachel was in the house before pulling out of the driveway, and it wasn't until she was two blocks away that she allowed one lone tear to slide down her face. Now that she had a taste of what it was like having Rachel in her home, it made walking away so much harder than it was before.

…

Rachel let out a strangled sob the second she shut the front door and slid down to the floor, pulling her knees into her chest. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. A tiny part of her really thought that Shelby was changing her mind, was realizing how badly Rachel needed her. The few hours she had spent with Shelby in her home had been better than anytime she had spent with her dads in the past couple of years. It made her long for her mother even more, made her crave human touch and affection more than she even thought possible.

Rachel stood up and walked slowly to her room, not even bothering to flick on the light, she climbed into bed and pulled out the T-shirt she had snuck into her book bag. Curling it into a ball, she rested her head on it and took in her mother's scent and fell into a dreamless sleep.

…

A/N: Yay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave me reviews and tell me your honest opinions. Can't wait to write more!