Chapter 25

Rachel was furious. Sure, she would often pretend to be furious to get her own way; particularly in one of her many Rachel Berry storm outs in Glee club when Mr Schuster refused to recognize her far superior talent and grant her the solo's that were rightfully hers. But no, this time she was genuinely insanely furious with what Finn was telling her.

"SHE SAID WHAT ABOUT ME?" Rachel screamed, giving Finn her death stare.

"Wow, angry Rachel. Scary" Finn replied his eyes wide as he visibly recoiled; taking a step back. He took a deep breath and moved his hands to hold her shoulders. She was seething, and her hands were clenched in fists down by her side. Finn and her had become close friends again over the past few weeks, and he had just told her about Mercedes' storm out of the Booty Camp the day before. "She was just upset, she didn't mean any of it"

"No" Rachel snapped, shaking her head at him as she clenched her jaw. "I've had it up to here with her giving me crap for no reason."

It had started about a month ago, before she had gone to visit James in Oregon for his sectionals. Mercedes had started to become more aggressive, snapping at people in Glee Club in general but also at Mr Schuster. Kurt had spoken to Mercedes while Rachel had been with James, and he had told her that Mercedes was just eager to make sure her senior year was special for her without being forgotten in the background, but also an attempt to impress her new boyfriend Shane; who was some big shot on the football team.

At the time, Rachel had understood, agreeing that she had been pushed to the back in Glee Club the past couple of years and had hoped that by being nicer to the girl it would put off some of the hostility. However, when she had come back from Oregon; things didn't seem to be any better. As they had been rehearsing for the school fund raiser, Mercedes had been even more aggressive and snappy towards her when Mr Schuster had given Rachel several solos to lead the Glee Club. Rachel had been caught up in her sadness about being separated from James to put much attention and fight back, but it had upset her that her friend was seemingly turning against her.

It was starting to seem to Rachel that Mercedes has a serious grudge against her. Despite the fact that everybody knew how important her getting the role of Maria was for her application to NYADA, so that she could prove she had history in performances outside of Show choir, Mercedes had auditioned for the part at the start of the week on Monday afternoon. Rachel had stood off to the side and listened to the performance; it had been great, of course everybody knew that Mercedes was the best at the school at performing soulful songs that were written for her type of voice. But apparently, that wasn't all and the night before at Booty Camp; Mercedes had launched into an attack at Mr Schuster, saying that he always gave her whatever she wanted regardless of the other people in Glee Club. Rachel had enough and wasn't prepared to stand by and let the other girl walk all other her any longer.

"I know, and everybody has as well; including Mr Schuster that's why he's kicked her out of the New Directions" Finn said, offering her a smile to try to calm and reassure her. Rachel sighed and nodded at him, grateful for him being there to talk calmly to her. She wasn't expecting to be able to talk to James that night, because when they had talked on Tuesday he had explained that his father was going to be in town and wanted to speak to his son before James came to visit her in Ohio. "Don't worry about it, Rachel okay?"

"I know" She sighed, sitting back down on her bed. She rubbed her neck, as she closed her eyes frowning. Her and James had spoken much this week, and that combined with the issues with Mercedes and the Maria audition; the stress was getting on top of her and all she wanted to happen was for the weekend to come around so that she could just cuddle up with James. "Thanks for telling me, Finn and thanks for sticking up for me"

"Hey what are friends for, right?" He replied, offering her his trademark half smile. Rachel nodded back at him and smiled. "Besides, everybody knows how hard you work for glee club; including Mercedes. It's not right what she said"

"I just wish that we could go back to being friends. I thought we'd turned things around last year, that Me, Mercedes and Kurt were best friends but apparently I was wrong" Rachel said glumly.

"You'll work things out Rachel, come on don't be upset" Finn replied and she watched him move to sit beside her on her bed; giving her a smile. "Now, come on; tell me about your birthday party this weekend and how much fun we're all going to have"

"Okay" Rachel giggled. She spent the next hour or so talking to Finn in her bedroom about her birthday that weekend coming up. Her friends from the glee club were coming over at 6pm to her house on the Saturday; her dads were going out for dinner and then going to the movies together to give her and her friends enough time to enjoy the evening and night. As she bid goodnight to Finn as she walked him downstairs, she felt a smile on her face, glad that she could sit and talk to him as friends without any of the awkwardness that had been present for the past couple of months since she told him about James. Closing the door, she headed into the kitchen to sit down with her dads for dinner; knowing that soon James and Matt would be joining them for dinner.

After eating dinner, she had headed back up to her room and sat talking to Noah about the Mercedes issue and in James' absence he cheered her up. When they switched to talking about her birthday, he made her laugh when he said he was going to break into her father's liquor cabinet again when he came over on Saturday night. Truthfully, she couldn't wait for her birthday and couldn't wait to let her hair down and relax with the glee club, James, Matt and a couple of the vocal adrenaline kids she had met in New York that summer who were going to be coming to her birthday.

Around eleven o'clock and Rachel was sat cuddling up to Fluffy in her bed as she watching television. James had given her a list of films that he loved to watch, just as she had done for him. Currently, she was watching Die hard 2; and though she normally hated these types of films she was determined to watch it the whole way through as a way to connect and be closer to her boyfriend. Rachel was led on her side, resting her arm on her pillow as she supported her chin with her palm; and as she sighed at how awful the film was, her phone started to ring out with "For Good" from Wicked, and Rachel smiled widely as she saw the picture that popped on her phone.

"James!" Rachel exclaimed happily, a beaming smile on her face as she heard him chuckle down the phone softly. "I thought you were having dinner with your Dad tonight!; I didn't realize that you were going to call me tonight."

"Hey, yeah sorry to call you; I know it's late there" James replied, and Rachel frowned a little bit at the sound of his voice; rather than its normal cheeriness when he spoke to her, it sounded exhausted and worn out.

"Are you okay baby?" Rachel asked concernedly. "You don't sound very happy"

"Sorry, it's been a stressful week" James spoke again and she heard him sigh. When he spoke again she smiled at the fact he did sound genuinely happy. "Now I get to hear your voice it's all better"

"I know what you mean about a stressful week" Rachel replied softly, and she smiled. "How did it go with your Dad?"

"How does it always go?" James chuckled softly, and Rachel smiled sadly. "It's alright though, I get to see you in two days time and I'm really excited"

"Don't you want to talk about what happened with your dad?" Rachel asked concernedly, it didn't sound like it was nothing and she wanted for him to open and talk to her. "You know you can tell me anything, I love you"

"I love you too" He replied, and she could hear the smile on his face as he spoke. "But really, Rach, it's nothing; I'll tell you about it when we're together"

"Okay" Rachel said gently, smiling at hearing the three words she loved hearing the most.

"So what's going on with you?" James asked softly.

"I'm sat in bed watching this awful film you recommended" Rachel giggled at him as he laughed down the phone.

"Awful film? I don't watch any awful films, you must have watched one of those soppy romantic films instead" James replied slyly and Rachel shook her head giggling some more.

"The notebook is not soppy, it's a beautiful film and I know you loved it! You told me you cried!" Rachel said loudly as she laughed.

"I did no such thing" James said happily, and Rachel smirked at hearing him sound that way.

"How was school? You said you had a stressful day" James asked, and Rachel sighed.

"This thing with Mercedes is really getting me down" Rachel said sadly.

"I hate knowing your down, baby. Tell me and I can try to make you feel better" James replied, and Rachel smiled at the sincerity of his voice; the softness asking for her to unload on him.

"Alright" Rachel said softly, before telling him what Finn had told her about Mercedes storm out during the Booty camp rehearsal and then how he had stuck up for her. She knew that while James still wasn't completely happy about the fact she and Finn were becoming good friends again, she was glad that he was being so understanding and supportive of it.

"Things will get better, she won't hold this grudge against you for long. I promise, babe" James said reassuringly. Rachel smiled glad that she could speak to him, but even happier that she would be able to hold him tomorrow evening.

"Thanks for listening baby" Rachel replied with a happy tone in her voice, biting her lip as she spoke again; "I love you"

"I love you too" James said and she giggled down the phone; "I can't wait to see you on Friday"

"Me either" Rachel replied. The two of them spoke for a little while longer on the phone before they hung up the phone. She settled back down in bed to watch the last part of the film and when it finished she fell asleep with a smile on her face, picturing being able to sleep in James' arms the next night.

…..

Thursday passed by quickly and on the following, Friday, morning Kurt had offered to pick her up and take her to school with him and Blaine. They had arrived at her house early at her Dad had insisted on making them all breakfast, and after laughing and joking while they ate; they had arrived at school before Blaine had disappeared to find Anthony, one of his Junior class friends while her and Kurt walked down the corridor towards his locker together.

"With just over another week left for people to announce their candidacy, that leaves me and Brittany running in this race; I'm excited. After all; me against Brittany? That's more like me running, and Brittany whimsically hopping and skipping nearby. No one takes her seriously" Kurt announced happily as they walked arm in arm down the corridor at McKinley. Rachel grinned as she heard the news, knowing that Kurt's victory in the senior class president elections would be another stamp on their way to NYADA and New York next year.

"That's amazing Kurt" Rachel replied, clapping softly as they paused while he handed out badges to a couple of the football players before heading towards his locker. "You can practically add the Presidency to your Curriculum Vitae now!"

"I know!" Kurt said with a wide smile, as he opened his locker and she rested her shoulder against the one next to it. "Between us two, I've got a good feeling about this; according to the new Jacob Ben Israel straw poll numbers I am ahead of Britt by 11%"

"Really?" Rachel asks, her eyes widening slightly. She knew Kurt's campaign was doing well; but not that well.

"Yeah, and that's before the debates. I mean its Brittany; I can beat her on all the important issues" Kurt replied nodding at her. "This could be a cakewalk"

"NYADA is going to eat that up" Rachel said seriously, pointing at him with one of the badges that she was going to attach to her dress. After a second, both of them giggled at each other at how excited they were both getting. "Oh Kurt, everything is coming together perfectly. I'm quietly confident about my Maria audition; I nailed that performance and now you're going to win senior class president. Our dream is coming true; Me and you living together in New York."

"Don't forget about James" Kurt replied with a wink, and Rachel frowned at him. "I've already started ordering ear muffs for when we're all living together next year"

"Kurt!" Rachel said with a blush, though she giggled. "We haven't even talked about it; don't say things like that. I don't even know if he would want to share an apartment with us; it's too soon!"

"All I know is that you two are incredibly happy together; and I know you're going to be with him for a long time. Okay Rachel?" Kurt said sincerely, and Rachel nodded at him before pulling him into a hug as her eyes welled. Honestly, that is what she wanted more than anything else; to be in a long term relationship with the boy that would eventually lead on to marriage and a family. Maybe it was forward of her to think like that; but all she knew was how strong her love for James was, and as well how strong his was for her "What time are Matt and his plane getting here tonight?"

"Their plane should be landing around about ten" Rachel replied, feeling a wide smile come across her face as she thought about him arriving later that night. "My Dads and I are going to be there at least an hour earlier though, I want to be there waiting for him just in case it arrives earlier"

Kurt laughed at her, and she felt her cheeks blush again as she giggled along with him. Her dads had laughed at her when she told them the night before that they had to go to the airport earlier, and she didn't mind them teasing her about it. This was the boy she was in love with and in a normal situation she would have been able to spend her days walking hand in hand with him down the corridors of school, stealing kisses and tender touches in between classes. Instead, she had been separated from him for two weeks and when the time came for them to be reunited again; she was going to jump into his arms and hold him as tightly as possible, not wanting to let him go ever again. "I'm sure he's going to love the attention"

"I know" Rachel replied, smiling widely at him. "It's going to be a little different than this summer when he came, because Matt's coming with him; but I like that, it reminds me of this summer when it was us all in New York"

"I miss him and Matt" Kurt admitted, and Rachel nodded at him. "This summer was so great, and I haven't seen either of them for nearly two months; it's weird, sometimes I wish we could just go back and relive it"

"Me too" Rachel said softly, her eyes drifting downwards as she stared thoughtfully at her feet. Though she was happy about how things had turned out; of course she was, she got her boyfriend out of it; Rachel would have liked it if they could have spent more time as boyfriend and girlfriend this summer, instead of the weeks they wasted awkwardly crushing on each other. Smiling, she remembered their first kiss and how perfect it was.

"Have you got the sleeping arrangements ready?" Kurt asked mischievously. Rachel looked back up at him and blushed furiously again as her cheeks turned a violent shade of red. She had told him about the conversation she'd had with her Dads the week before, while he and Blaine had laughed at the awkwardness of the situation. That had embarrassed her; but not as much as James had been when she had called him later that same night and explained the situation to him. Apparently it had been a co-ordinated attack, because over dinner his mom had brought up the same thing and in his words; he had sat there speechless with wide disbelieving eyes for about ten minutes before being able to explain.

"Yeah" Rachel admitted, biting her lip to control her smile. "The guest rooms ready for Matt, and I've made some space for James in my bathroom"

"With his numerous hair care products?" Kurt teased and Rachel couldn't help but giggle. She had told Kurt about her stay in Oregon; Blaine and him had both enjoyed the particularly story about him having more hair care products than she had in her own bathroom.

"Please don't tease him too much about that" Rachel pleaded half-heartedly, and by the look Kurt gave her; she knew he was going to the opposite of what she asked.

"Yeah, not a chance. Let's call it payback for this summer and all the times him and Matt picked on me" Kurt replied laughing along with her. "I can't wait for your birthday, I think we all could use a bit of relaxation and fun; senior year is stressful"

"I know what you mean" Rachel agreed, gently rubbing her hand against her forehead. "I think I'm getting frown lines with all this worrying about Mercedes and NYADA"

Kurt looked at her sympathetically, and moved a hand to rest on her arm. "I spoke to Mercedes again yesterday"

"You did?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I told her she was out of line for how she was treating you" Kurt replied, his smile fading from his face. "She said that I was turning against her as well and that she wasn't going to come to-"

"Lady Hummel, nice blouse; it really brings out the colour of your pink eye" Santana's voice came from behind them, and they both turned to see the Latina and Brittany heading towards them. Rachel rolled her eyes at the two of them, the last week or so they had been trying to unsettle Kurt.

"So I assume I can rely on your vote, Rachel" Brittany said sweetly, and Rachel frowned slightly as she glanced at Kurt.

"I'm sorry, but I've already pledged my fidelity to Kurt." Rachel said proudly holding up two badges from the bucket he was carrying.

"Oh so you're fine with flushing McKinley's future down the magical poop stealing water chair" Brittany replied, and both her and Kurt looked at each other with confused expressions.

"Did you know, in six years at the school we've only exclusively had male student council presidents. And yeah sure Kurt looks like Jimmy Fallon's butch daughter, but a vote for him would empower another frankenbeans" Santana explained, and that left her even more confused; What was their deal here?

"Where has the patriockey gotten us? Double digit inflation, economic free fall, oil spills and war in Afghanistan" Brittany kept on talking but Rachel just looked at her queerly; where they seriously trying to say that all of that came about because of male student body presidents? Rachel was dramatic sometimes, okay a lot of the time, but even to her this sounded ridiculous. "Boys have made one hell of a mess in this school, and its time for me to clean it up; we're having a pep rally later this afternoon and we're going to support Brittany with girl power"

"O…okay" Rachel replied , frowning confusedly at the two cheerleaders as they smiled and walked away. Turning to Kurt, she giggled at the look of equal confusion on his face"

"What was that…" Kurt asked, his face carrying a look of complete disbelief. "Are they serious?"

"I think so" Rachel replied, offering him a smile as she moved her hands and rubbed his arms softly. "Don't even worry about it, remember its Brittany; you've got this in the bag"

"Thanks Rachel" Kurt said happily and hugged her. Rachel sighed happily and enjoyed the contact between them for a few moments before they both pulled back. "So, as I was saying; Mercedes says she's not coming to your birthday tomorrow."

"What?" Rachel asked sadly, a look of sorrow on her face. Even if they were fighting, Mercedes was still one her best friends and the thought of her not wanting to celebrate her birthday was upsetting. "I know we're not really talking right now but I didn't think she'd be like this…"

"I know sweetie" Kurt said reassuringly as he moved to hold her hand. "Don't even think about it, trust me; you haven't done anything wrong, it's all her alright? She's just taking things too extreme"

"It still hurts" Rachel replied weakly, and Kurt moved to embrace her again.

"Just think about the fact that James is going to be there with you; you won't even be thinking about Mercedes tomorrow" Kurt whispered in her ear, and Rachel giggled softly.

"Alright, I love you Kurt" Rachel said softly and she rested her head against his chest. Kurt was right, she wasn't going to let Mercedes ruin the small amount of time she had with James this weekend; she was going to push it out of her mind and just enjoy being able to dance with her amazing boyfriend who she loved.

"Is that?" Kurt voice came softly, and she looked up at him to see his face pulled into a confused expression. Rachel tilts her head as she creases her eyebrows and follows his gaze down the hallway towards the principal's office.

"What is it Kurt?" Rachel asked, nudging him gently with her hand and she smiles at him when he shakes his head and looks at her.

"Nothing…I just thought I saw…" Kurt spoke again before pausing and giving her a smile. "Never mind, it doesn't matter; come on let's go to class"

…..

The rest of the day dragged by, and Rachel found herself wishing that the end of the day would come quickly so that she would be able to get home and get ready to pick James and Matt up from the airport. She paid attention in her classes, sitting with Kurt in several of them; but he could tell, and it's not like she was ignorant to it herself, that her thoughts were on anything but the periodic table elements that can be grouped together as they sat in class together. As they sat at their lunch room together, Rachel was giggling as Noah tried to convince her to let him open her Dads liquor cabinet during her birthday party.

"Come on Berry" Noah was pleading with her, a smirk on his face as she sat there giggling at him. "You've got to let me crack it open; remember last time?"

"Where everyone got drunk and made a mess in my dad's Oscar room?" Rachel replied, the corners of her lips curved in a smirk as she tried to look at him seriously. "Remember?"

"All I remember is that it was Awesome and everybody had a brilliant time" Noah said, emphasising the awesome part of his speech.

"Mhmmm" Rachel replied rolling her eyes. "Well, I didn't have such a good time cleaning up in the days afterwards"

"What are you talking about? I replaced all that booze; your dads didn't even notice it had been missing!" Noah announced proudly and she giggled at him.

"To be fair, Rachel, he did replace it the very next day" Finn offered, with a shrug of his shoulders and his trademark half-smile. Rachel shot him a "really" look and shook her head.

"Besides, my boyfriend is going to be there and I don't think he would appreciate me getting drunk and making out with Blaine again" Rachel giggled and so did the rest of the glee club.

"Neither would I for that matter!" Kurt announced with a playful glare at her.

"Come on guys, we shouldn't try and force Rachel into anything she's not comfortable with" Blaine said, laying a hand on her arm protectively. "I'd appreciate not waking up the next morning with a horrible hangover and headache.

"You guys are lame as" Noah sighed, pulling a frustrated face. Rachel laughed at him, leaning over kissing his cheek as he smirked at her.

"Don't worry Noah, it'll be great".

Rachel's classes in the afternoon passed by quickly and as she sat in her last period, history with Kurt, her mind was wandering as she thought about that in only a few hours James' flight would be landing as she doodled "Rachel loves James" on her notebook in class. Forty minutes later, she was walking down the corridor towards her locker with Kurt and Blaine.

"What's your plans for tonight then?" Kurt teased.

"I think she mentioned something about a boy coming to visit her?" Blaine replied as he frowned in mock thought. Rachel walked in between them giggling gently.

"Guys! Come on, please don't mock me; you know how excited and nervous I am" Rachel said in between giggles.

As Blaine went to open his mouth again, Artie wheeled past them and interrupted them; "Hey Rachel, can you come to Ms Pillsbury's office please?"

"Sure" Rachel replied, nodding slowly as she saw him smile and push his chair away. Gulping she turned to Blaine and Kurt with a nervous smile. "I guess they made a decision about Maria already"

"Don't worry about it Rachel, it's a good sign" Blaine said reassuringly as he rubbed her arm gently.

"Blaine's right" Kurt added, with a smile as he moved forward and hugged her softly. Rachel smiled as she enjoyed the comfort and reassurance he was providing her. After a few seconds they pulled away and they both gave her smiles before she headed towards the classroom.

…

"Let me get this straight, you can't make up your mind so we have to try out again?" Mercedes remarked with an angry tone in her voice. Rachel sat next to her and rolled her eyes, was it even possible for the girl to say something calmly any more?

They had been sat in the office for about a quarter of an hour now, the first ten minutes of which were spent in an awkward silence as her, Artie and Mercedes sat there alone waiting for the two teachers to arrive. Rachel had been there first as she followed Artie, but Mercedes had arrived about five minutes after with an annoyed scowl on her face as she entered and wordlessly sat down in the chair next to her.

"In the bizz, it's called a "Callback" Rachel responded, trying to keep her voice gentle but struggling to with the amount of crap she had been getting from Mercedes in the last few weeks. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help but have a little bit of a dig at Mercedes. "With such an iconic role as Maria, they can't just appear as if they are giving me the part"

"We'd like you both to come back next Thursday, for the ultimate Maria-off" Artie said and Rachel smiled at him as well as the two teachers politely.

"Done" Rachel replied, already picturing what song she was going to choose to try and wow them. "I can't speak for Mercedes, but I'll be singing the timeless Maria classic; "I Feel Pretty"".

"Actually, that's too easy Rachel" Ms Pillsbury answered and Rachel frowned slightly at the woman, confused at what was going on. It was traditional to audition for a part using a song from the musical, what were they thinking of? "We've picked a song that has the potential to show off both of your talents…in unexpected ways"

"Out here on my own" Artie announced as he leaned across the desk and handed them both the sheet music. "from the seminal behind the scenes musical; Fame"

After spending a few more minutes in the office, Mercedes stood up and left the office quickly. Licking her lips, Rachel smiled at the three before jumping to her feet; aiming to try and make peace with Mercedes. She wanted to try and be the bigger person. If Mercedes was going to be mean to her like she had been so far this week, Rachel wanted to try and cool the situation by reminding the girl they were still friends.

"Mercedes!" Rachel called out as she left the office. The girl paused and turned to face her with a fake smile on her lips.

"What is it Rachel?"

"Look, in the spirit of Broadway comradery; I want to offer you a hug to congratulate you on your callback" Rachel said with a smile before leaning forward to embrace the girl who used to be her friend. When Mercedes raised her hand to stop her, Rachel was surprised and let it show with a frown on her face.

"You know what Rachel?" Mercedes asked in a rough voice, and Rachel shook her head. "Hug me after I get the part"

Rachel stood there in shock for a few seconds as Mercedes walked away with a smirk on her face before Rachel closed her eyes trying to prevent the tears from falling. She didn't like this new mood Mercedes was in; even when they had competed for solo's in the past, it had never reached this level of hostility and Rachel couldn't believe that her friend was getting this caught up in it all.

"You okay Rachel?" Blaine's calm voice came and she opened her eyes and offered them a weak smile. "What did they say?"

"I'm fine" She said, trying to reassure them and honestly she would be, as soon as she got cuddle James later that evening when she picked him and Matt up from the airport with her Dads. "They couldn't decide between us; so next week there's going to be call back where we're both singing the same song"

"Mercedes didn't seem very happy" Kurt remarked and Rachel just shrugged at him as she linked her arm through his.

"You know what she's like at the moment" Rachel replied before putting on a show face smile. "Come on let's go home"

As the three of them turned around, they were met with the feeling of a cold, horrible, wet slushie been thrown at them. After a few seconds of shock, Rachel opened her eyes and turned around to see several jocks laughing as they walked away high-fiving one another.

Perfect Rachel thought to herself with a grim smile. What a week this has been.

…..

A/N : Rachel has a really bad week =/

At least James is back next chapter! : - ) This chapter just sets up the drama in the chapters after I've written her birthday weekend and there's going to be a few fun ones after this that I loved writing : -)

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When my profile updates, take a look at my profile picture! That is what I imagine James to look like, and the length is what it will be when he comes to visit in Chapter 26!. The models hair is much lighter than James', but if you can picture if as Black instead of brown then you get the idea of what he looks like. When I describe James as having longer, fluffier, curlier hair; try to picture him with Nick Jonas style hair but Black hair! Check my profile for some links