Chapter 23

Rachel sighed as she pulled her car into the senior parking lot at McKinley high. Shutting off the engine, she leaned forward and rested her forehead on the steering wheel; closing her eyes. Normally when she arrived at school, she was filled with happiness and an eagerness to get the day started so that she could enjoy her classes, spend the day with several of her friends as well as heading to Glee Club at the end of the day; the one thing she enjoyed above all else at school. Instead she felt empty and tired.

She'd arrived home from the airport the day before, on the Sunday evening, after her dads had picked her up following her flight home from Oregon. That night; the three of them had stayed at home and made dinner together, before talking at the table while they ate. It had been a sombre affair, with Rachel still feeling upset following her goodbye with James at the airport, as her Dads were trying to make her feel better but finding themselves unable to. She was thankful that her Dads were considerate and understood her thoughts, how they had kept drifting back to Oregon, and when they asked her about her weekend with James with them; she had felt herself feel much, much better.

The two of them had reacted with wide smiles, and seemed happier than ever, when she told them that her and James had said "I love you" to one another; congratulating their daughter on the development with her boyfriend who they adored. She'd left out the whole I slept in the same bed with James while I was there part of her visit, doubting whether they would be as enthusiastic about that particular activity the couple had enjoyed. Rachel was thankful that her Dads truly seemed happy about her relationship with James, for the first time their smiles had been truthful when she told them about how she was in love with a boy; when she had told them about Jesse and Finn, the two of her dads had seemed sceptical about whether it really was love.

Her weekend with James had been amazing, their month without seeing one another had simply made them miss each other incredibly and she'd enjoyed the moments they were alone the most; the two of them either kissing or just cuddling close to one another just as they had done the night before her flight. The Sunday had been different, with it sinking in to both of them that they were going to be saying goodbye again at an airport.

…

James alarm went off at 9am that Sunday morning but she had been awake for at least an hour already and Rachel knew that James had been as well. He was led on his back, and she was curled into his body as she rested her head on his chest as her arm held onto him. Rachel had led there enjoying the sensation of James hand gently stroking her hair, the two of them simply content not to speak but to lay there and simply revel in the presence of the person they loved. Her flight back to Ohio was at 2pm that afternoon, and all she wanted to do was stay with him; in his arms enjoying James' warm embrace, feeling how much he loved her as they stayed together in peace and calm.

When the alarm sounded, it was like the bubble had broken as he leaned over and turned it off before facing her again, leaning on his elbow as his other hand came to rest on her cheek. Rachel looked at him with a sad smile, noticing how his warm brown eyes looked as if he was going to cry at any moment. After a few minutes of silence, with his hand stroking her cheek the only movement in the room, he smiles at her and spoke softly; "Morning"

"Hi" She smiles back at him, trying to put on a brave face knowing that he always tries to do it for her; she loves that about him, how he tries to be strong for her even when the two of them are both feeling down. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really" He replies, his smile still present on his face. Nodding in understanding, Rachel moves closer and cuddles him again as he buries his head into her hair and she closes her eyes, enjoying the light kisses he places on the top of her head.

They eventually, after another hour of cuddling in his bed, manage to pull away from each other to shower and get dressed before they head downstairs hand in hand towards the kitchen. Charlie and Hugh are sat there along with his mom, and they explain that they're staying until the Thursday before they return to Harvard. Andrea is amazing, and Rachel is truly glad that she gets to be part of this family, as she talks to Rachel to attempt to distract her and James about how they're going to be saying goodbye later that afternoon. It doesn't really success because as her eyes meet James', both of them can see the sadness hidden there behind the show face smiles; but she appreciates the gesture regardless.

For the rest of the morning the two of them spend some time with Andrea, as his sister and her boyfriend head out to the mall, looking through some pictures of James as a baby; Rachel laughing and commenting on how cute he looked while James sat there blushing furiously with a smirk on his face; his hand slowly stroking her leg as they sat subconsciously close by one another.

Around half past eleven, Rachel was packing her suitcase; making sure that everything was there including a couple of James t-shirts that she was going to take home with her to sleep in. The last few days in Oregon with James had been incredible and part of her didn't want to leave; but instead to remain here and enjoy her relationship with him.

"Nearly done?" She heard James voice, and Rachel turned to look over her shoulder at him making his way into the guestroom with his hands behind his back.

"Yeah" She smiled, as he stopped a couple of feet away from her. Rachel quirked her eyebrow at him as he chewed his lip nervously. "What have you got there?"

"So, I have something for you" James said, a smile appearing on his lips. Rachel eyes widened slightly as he moved his hands around to the front of his body and showed her the toy rabbit that she had seen in the box in his room.

"James, you're giving me fluffy?" Rachel asked taken back. She had told him that she had looked around in his room and found the box full of his baby toys; he had laughed in response and told her she could look wherever in his room and that he had nothing to hide. "I can't, he's yours-"

"And I want to give him to you" James cut her off, stepping forward and moving his hands forward to hand the toy to her. Rachel smiled, looking down and taking the cuddly rabbit from him and holding it close to her chest. "I love you, and we're going to be apart for a little while but I figure that you can cuddle with Fluffy when you need me"

"Thank you" Rachel replies, a tear in her eye and she leans forward to kiss him.

After packing her suitcase, they were sat holding hands in the back of his mom's car as Andrea drove them to the airport. His mom had offered to drive, and Rachel had watched as James smiled sadly before nodding his agreement. She was glad that Andrea was going with them, knowing how thankful she was for her dads after dropping James off at the airport in Ohio when he had come to visit in the summer.

Andrea helped her check in for her flight, before the older woman embraced her and told Rachel that she was more than welcome to come back and stay again with them and told James she would be waiting in the car outside, giving the couple some time to say their goodbye in relative privacy. Rachel had stood in front of James, holding his hands tightly in hers and after a couple of minutes; he moved forward and wordlessly pulled her into a hug as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. Rachel giggled lightly, resting her head in the crook of his neck as she closed her eyes at the feeling of James breath on hers as one of his hands ran through her hair.

"I should go through" She commented as she pulled back several minutes later, her voice low and weak as sadness reverberating through it. James nodded before leaning down and kissing her for a little while, and she couldn't help the tears that started to run down her cheeks as they did. The kiss would be their last for a few weeks and they were both eager to remember the way the other tasted. When they did pull back, she saw him clench his jaw as he set his face trying to avoid breaking down in front of her; his hands gripping hers tightly.

"I love you" He murmured, and she smiled as she leaned up to press another kiss against his lips.

"You know what I love about you" She whispered, her lips an inch away from his. Her eyes flicked to his as he shook his head slightly, his eyes looking as if they were about to burst with tears. "I love how you try to be tough for me, how you don't want to break down in front of me. I love how you are my strong man"

Rachel watched as he chuckled softly, her mouth curving into a smile as she saw his do the same. Their lips met in another few kisses before he freed his hands from hers, moving them to cup her face in his. "I love you, Rachel"

"I love you too" She said and with a final kiss, the two of them separated as Rachel headed deeper into the airport. As she took one final glance at him, he raised his hand waved to her across the room which she returned before disappearing around the corner as her tears started to fall. On the plane home, Rachel made sure she cuddled James' soft toy rabbit Fluffy extra tight as she tried to stay calm.

….

The sound of knocking on glass shook her out of her daydream, and as Rachel removed her forehead from resting against her steering wheel; a smile crossed her face as she turned and saw Kurt and Blaine stood outside her car with smiles on the faces. Giggling softly, she brushed her hair behind her ear before grabbing her bag and stepping out of the car, swinging it over her shoulder as she walked around her car and over to the two of them who hugged her as she reached them.

"Hi guys, I missed you two" She said smiling widely as the three of them linked arms and started walking towards the school.

"We missed you too" Blaine replied, squeezing her arm tightly, a smile on his face.

"How was your weekend?" Kurt asked, a look in his eye telling her that he knew how she was feeling; but that he just wanted to make her feel better. She felt lucky that she had such a good friend, someone aside from James who could understand her completely.

"It was amazing to see him" Rachel replied, a sad smile on her face. The two boys had smiles on the faces that encouraged her to talk about it and she launched into a description of her weekend; her mood perking up considerably as she spoke about James, feeling her heart warm as she remembered him telling her he loved her.

"He told you "I love you""? Kurt asked excited as they stood around by Blaine's locker waiting for the bell to ring. Rachel nodded her head and Kurt embraced her tightly, the two of them squealing as Blaine stood to the side laughing at the two of them.

"I said I loved him too" Rachel replied happily, sighing with a smile on her face. "Oh Kurt, it was so perfect and he gave me his toy rabbit to sleep with. Best weekend ever"

"We're so happy for you Rachel" Blaine smiled, moving to embrace her as well.

For the next ten minutes before the bell rang, Rachel told the two of them about how she had met his sister Charlie and her boyfriend and how well they had gotten along. As her and Kurt headed off to class after saying goodbye to Blaine, she felt a lot happier about being away from him; the memories of the few days they had spent together warming her thoughts and putting a massive smile on her face.

As her morning classes went on, Rachel was surprised about how happy and good it felt to be back at school with all her friends. Sure she missed James incredibly and while she was in love with him, her life was in Ohio and even though it sucked being away from him; she knew she wouldn't be able to move away from her hometown to be with him. In her last class before lunch, she sat in her normal seat next to Mike as she told him about the dancers in the Scale Blazers. She giggled at him when he said by the time nationals swung around him and Mr Schu would have the New Directions dancing like champions.

The bell rang and Rachel made her way over to Kurt's locker to meet him and Blaine before the three of them headed into the lunch room. She had brought a couple more recipes from Andrea how with her, and with her dads they had made some for lunch and as she sat with the rest of the Glee club, the notable exception being Mercedes; which she could ask Kurt about later telling them about the Scale Blazer's sectionals win.

"You don't seem to like this Heather" Blaine remarked as the three of them turned into their own private conversation. Rachel had been telling them about the songs James glee club had performed.

"She tried to come between me and James" Rachel replied sadly, and explained to them about the red headed girl had been all over her boyfriend and when they had talked to each other at the party on the Friday night following the Scale Blazer victory how Heather had told her that she was going to be the reason her and James broke up.

"Bitch" Kurt muttered and Rachel couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. She was glad with her best friend, he was the only other person aside from James who knew what to say to make her feel better. "I hope James told her off"

"He didn't believe me at first" She replied sadly, and Kurt glanced at her with wide eyes before opening his mouth to retort, when she cut him off not wanting to hear him say something bad about her boyfriend. "Don't say anything Kurt; we had a little fight about it but we kissed and made up"

"James still should have defended you" Kurt said softly.

"He promised me he's going to speak to her today and I'll ask him about it when I talk to him tonight" Rachel said as a smile grew on her face at the thought of hearing his voice that night. "Now, come on tell me what you two got up to this weekend"

The rest of her lunch break, Rachel sat and talked with Kurt and Blaine as they told her about their weekend. She noticed that Finn seemed to be a bit distracted and he had simply given her a smile and a welcome back before the bell rang again and she headed off to her afternoon class with Kurt.

Her afternoon passed by quickly, leaving her only with Glee club in the afternoon. As she deposited her book bag in her locker, she headed towards the choir room. Mr Schu was planning on starting the preparations for the performance the upcoming weekend and she had been thinking of some ideas with James that weekend. A smile cross her face as seeing the message from him as her phone buzzed.

I spoke to Heather. Call you later, Love you xx

Biting her lip, Rachel smiled as she typed her response as she made her way towards the choir room. Putting her phone back in her jeans pocket, she pushed the door open and walked in to see most of the group already there as Mr Schu stood looking over some sheet music with Brad as he stood next to the piano.

"Hello Mr Schue" she called out as she entered the room and he looked up at her with a smile on his face.

"Welcome Back Rachel" He replied, and she made her way to stand next to him as he gestured for her. "How was your weekend?"

"It was amazing" She said, smiling back at him.

"Glad to hear it, go and take a seat we'll get started in a minute or two" He replied and she nodded making her way over to sit next to Kurt and Blaine at the back of the seating area. She spoke to Kurt for a few minutes before Mr Schue interrupted them as he walked forward.

"Alright New Directions" He said, clasping his hand in front of him. "As you all know by now, Vocal Adrenaline finished in second last year at nationals"

"The only good thing to come out of the lost weekend" Finn remarked, and there was a few laughs in the room.

"Well, the boosters at Carmel don't donate tens of thousands of dollars every year to come in second" Mr Schue continued, rubbing his hands together. "So as I discovered this morning, they fired Dustin Goolsby"

"Really? That's great; it means they are vulnerable" Tina said happily, and a few of the glee club murmured and nodded their heads. Rachel smiled knowingly and glanced at Kurt who looked at her with the same expression. Jake had told them a few weeks ago about their new coach, and she knew from James that Mr Atherton was one of the best and would get Vocal Adrenaline back to top fighting shape.

"The problem is that they have a new Coach, Michael Atherton, who they poached from last years national champions; The Scale Blazers" Mr Schue added and Rachel saw the smiles fade from the faces in the room.

"Is that even allowed?" Artie asked frowning, which Mr Schu replied with a sad nod.

"At least they're weakened because they lost their coach, right Rachel?" Finn asked, looking at her with an optimistic look in her eyes. Rachel gulped nervously and turned to Mr Schu who was looking at her with interested expression. After a few seconds she sighed and shook her head.

"No, not really. They were really, really good even without their coach" Rachel said sadly.

"But guys, there is some good news!" Mr Schue said after a couple of silent moments in the room, as he moved to sit on a stool in front of them all. "Sunshine Corazon transferred away from Carmel, in fact she transferred out of state to California to get away from Vocal Adrenaline; which leaves them with a problem. They don't have a big headline star like in the past with Jesse St. James or with Sunshine."

Rachel listened smiling as she knew they had the advantage, and even giggled with she heard Finn mutter "St. Jerk" under his breath at the mention of Jesse's name.

"Obviously in New Directions, we have several really powerful stars so we have an advantage and if we work hard together as a team, we can beat Vocal Adrenaline" Mr Schue finished saying and Rachel was glad to see the nods of heads, and determined looks in the glee clubs eyes. After two years of losing to them, everybody in the room wanted to prove that they were the best and were all committed to winning.

For the rest of Glee club, they talked about the fundraiser that would be taking place on Saturday afternoon at school and what songs they were going to be performing. Mr Schu was planning on a number of group performances to highlight the improvements that they had been making on the teams dancing as well as several solo performances to people. By the end of the hour and a half, Rachel was feeling extremely excited about their rehersals for the week and couldn't wait to get started on the Tuesday.

"Before you all go guys, Artie has an announcement for those interested in the school musical" Mr Schue said loudly over their voices as they were all getting ready to leave. Rachel glanced at Kurt and they both smiled widely at each other.

"Thanks" Artie replied, wheeling himself to the front of the room to talk to them all. "Audtions for the school musical are starting tomorrow from 2pm in the auditorium and if you haven't already handed in your form you have until lunch tomorrow"

The glee club started to make their way out of the room, and Rachel was telling Kurt and Blaine about her choice of song for the audition when Mr Schue called her name and gestured for her to come into his office.

"I won't be long, wait for me outside?" She asked the two of them, and they nodded and smiled at her in response. As she entered Mr Schue's office, she smiled at him and asked "Is everything okay Mr Schuester?"

"I had a surprise this morning in the teachers lounge" He said, biting his lip as he paused and Rachel looked at him curiously.

"Oh? What was it?" She asked, smiling but taken aback by how he seemed to be nervous

"Someone filled me in about the situation at Carmel and Vocal Adrenaline" He replied, leaning forward in his desk chair and resting his elbows on the table and he intwined his fingers.

"Who was it?" Rachel asked, frowning slightly.

As the next few words left his mouth, Rachel ears pounded and she felt her throat go dry. Of all the people that could have told him about what was going on at Carmel, she wouldn't it have ever expected it to be the woman who had hurt her so badly.

"Shelby teaches at McKinley now Rachel, Your moms back"

….

A/N :

This chapter just sets up the next couple of chapters; the Maria audition and Mercedes leaving the New Directions.

Merry Christmas everyone! Updates should be coming along :)