Ever since Sam's arrival at her apartment, it was as though someone had lit a fire under Rachel. When Sam arrived, Rachel's apartment still looked as though some kind of natural disaster had destroyed it. However, when he woke up the next morning, he was convinced he had somehow traveled in his sleep and ended up somewhere completely different. He walked into the kitchen and was confused for the good part of five minutes. Everything was spotless. The floors had been moped and vacuumed, there was no longer old wrappers and garbage piled in corners. He could now see what the kitchen countertops looked like. He didn't see Rachel anywhere but there was a new pot of coffee brewing and something that smelled like heaven coming from the oven.
Kurt emerged a few moments later, stretching his arms over his head as he stifled a yawn. The two had bunked together in Rachel's spare room (Kurt on an air mattress, Sam on the guest bed) while Quinn had slept in Rachel's room with her. It was like freshman year all over again.
Kurt stared into the kitchen at a loss for words. "...did she hire a maid?" he asked quietly.
"A maid who comes in the middle of the night? I doubt it. Besides, any maid would have run away screaming after seeing the state of this apartment."
"Well, then she must have the mice from Cinderella living here. How else would everything have gotten cleaned up in one night?"
"Maybe she's a witch?" Sam suggested.
"Can't be. If she was, she would have used it to guarantee she had a starring role every year of the play in high school," Kurt explained. "Maybe she has some sort of cleaning robot she keeps hidden."
Before Sam and Kurt could speculate further on the secret behind Rachel's clean apartment, the front door opened and Rachel walked in with her arms full of bags. She was wearing a white tank top with dark grey leggings. Beneath her top, a light purple sports bra was visible. Her newly-streaked hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she had her running shoes on her feet.
"Good," she breathed as she walked through the door. "Help me put these down" she said, gesturing to the bags in her arms. Kurt and Sam rushed forward, each taking a few shopping bags from her and setting them down on the counter.
Kurt peered into one of the bags, seeing strawberries, bananas, soy milk, and a few other healthy foods. "A little early to go grocery shopping, isn't it?" he asked.
"I wanted to get it done before you all woke up," she explained. "I hope I didn't wake you up last night," she added.
"Why would you have woken us up?" Sam asked.
"Cleaning," she said, as though it was obvious. "I decided it was time to finally get my life back in order. I threw out any junk food that was left here and cleaned the apartment from ceiling to floor."
"Did you manage to sleep?" Kurt asked.
Rachel rolled her eyes at him. "Who has time to sleep at a time like this, Kurt? We have to audition in two days and Sam just arrived!"
Kurt looked at her and shook his head, wondering where his best friend had been the past six months but glad she was finally back.
"I've already spoken to Will and Cooper this morning," she continued. "They were both going to shower before heading over here. I've been attempting to think of a place where we can all practice without disturbing my neighbors. I originally thought the roof could work but it is much too cold outside to spend hours out there. However, one of my neighbors owns a yoga studio down the block and said we could use that space for the next two days. She said they are closed for the month while they go through some hiring changes."
Quinn emerged from Rachel's bedroom, her blonde hair a mess as she rubbed her eyes. "Something smells good out here," she said as she let out a yawn. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking around. "Am I in the right apartment?" she asked.
Kurt let out a laugh, throwing an arm around Quinn's shoulder. "Sam and I thought the same thing when we got up. Nice of you to join us, sleeping beauty," he added. "It seems the diva here decided to clean up finally."
"Took you long enough," Quinn said, letting out another yawn. "I was afraid to sit down for fear something was living beneath all the mess."
"Ha ha, very funny," Rachel said with a dry laugh. "There's cinnamon rolls in the oven if you all are done making fun of my grieving period."
Kurt rolled his eyes as he walked over to the oven, pulling out the cinnamon rolls and placing them on a hot plate. "Would you relax and stop being such a drama queen? We're just teasing." He searched around her kitchen before finding a mug and pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Drink some coffee before you pass out," he added, tossing her another mug.
Rachel rolled her eyes at Kurt before pouring herself a cup of coffee, adding a small amount of cream. "I've had more than enough sleep over the past six months. I probably have a reserve built up. I'll be fine," she promised. She hopped up onto the kitchen counter and sat down, sipping her coffee as she surveyed the room.
Rachel was positive the last time the apartment had looked this clean was when Quinn's brother had still lived here. Rachel was definitely the neater of the two, but they worked together to keep everything clean and tidy. After he had left, Rachel had lost all desire to even think about vacuuming. The place had definitely been overdue for a deep cleaning.
It was nice having all of her friends in the same place once again. Seeing Sam, Quinn, and Kurt sitting and eating breakfast together was just like freshman year when the four of them would go to the dining hall and eat together every day. Some days, Rachel wished she could go back in time, back to college when she was happy. The past six months, she hadn't even felt like herself. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was struggling to even get out of bed in the morning. When Quinn's brother had left, he had taken part of Rachel with him. Of course, she had been struggling before he left, but his exit caused the little bit of life left in her to vanish.
Yes, Rachel was struggling. But, seeing Will and hearing his idea, it was the first time in a long time Rachel had felt even the slightest glimmer of joy and excitement. Rachel didn't enjoy lying at home, watching TV all day, and eating to the point that she had gained almost 15 pounds. She wanted to be out there performing. But, after deciding she wasn't willing to do certain things to be a Broadway star, she had lost her way. It had crushed Rachel's spirit to realize she didn't have an identity outside of being a performer, and if she wasn't able to do that, what would happen to her?
Rachel drained her cup of coffee and hopped down, reminding herself that Will and Cooper would be here soon to rehearse. Maybe they actually had a shot at this thing. If they did, then maybe the past year of her life would just be like a bad dream. Rachel headed back to her room, preparing to shower and change before everyone else arrived. New day, new Rachel she promised herself. She was determined to never go back to where she had just been.
It was after midnight, but Rachel, Will, Sam, and Cooper were still sitting on the floor of Rachel's neighbor's yoga studio, deep in discussion. Kurt and Quinn were both stretched out on some of the yoga mats, fast asleep.
As soon as Will and Cooper had arrived at Rachel's apartment, they immediately headed to the yoga studio to get to work. Kurt and Quinn had periodically run out to grab food for everyone, but the four band members had stayed there all day. And, it seemed the were nowhere close to finishing. Their instruments, still sitting in the corner, had yet to be touched. Rachel and Will had been going back and forth for hours over the song selection.
"I don't see what the big fucking deal is," Rachel snapped, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Will Schuester. "We did cover songs every week at O'Hara's and there was never a problem with is. Why is this a big issue now?"
"As I've said for the hundredth time, Bryan and April auditioned two weeks ago in LA and they said the judges told them thy were looking for originality. They don't want to hear the same top 40 song fifty fucking times. They want something new, something fresh, something original that they've never heard before."
"So pick a song from some indie band that no one has ever heard of and perform that. Will, we have less than 36 hours to get our performance together. We don't have time to write lyrics and music for a brand new, never heard before song!"
"If you would shut up for five seconds and let me talk, I could tell you I have a notebook full of songs we could use."
Rachel glared at him. "Have you always been this rude or did becoming a dad make you an asshole? We could have avoided this whole argument if you had started out with that. How the fuck was I supposed to know you've spend the past however many years writing songs?"
"You weren't," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a black notebook. The cover was worn and the edges of the pages looked weathered and torn in places. "I kept it a secret. It wasn't like I planned to ever record these or anything. Emma was really the only one who even knew they existed." He tossed the notebook into Rachel's lap. "Go on, tell me what you think."
Cooper scooted next to Rachel and peered over her shoulder as he read along with her. Rachel slowly flipped through the pages, her fingers running over the words as she took in every last lyric Will had written.
She looked up at him with an incredulous look on her face. "Will, why the hell would you keep these a secret? They're amazing," she gushed.
"For real? You're not bullshitting me?" he asked.
Rachel shook her head fervently. "No, I'm being 100% with you. They're wonderful. Why were we singing Taylor Swift back in school when we could have been singing these? Like, I honestly have no words. They're beautiful. You're absolutely right, we have to sing one of these for the judges. They'll be blown away."
Will and Sam both moved closer to Rachel so the four of them were sitting shoulder to shoulder. They flipped through the book, debating the pros and cons of each song. Eventually, after a few more arguments between Will and Rachel, they finally decided on the song they were going to sing. Rachel was going to suggest they start rehearsing when she looked at the clock and realized it was after two in the morning. Figuring they needed some sleep, Rachel and Sam promised they would meet back at the yoga studio first thing in the morning.
Rachel and Sam woke up Quinn and Kurt, and the four of them headed out into the cool night and started the short walk back to Rachel's apartment. Once inside, Quinn, Kurt, and Sam all passed out quickly. Rachel slid into her bed and stared up at the ceiling in her dark room. With all the excitement of the day, she just now realized something.
For the first time since he had left, Rachel had gone all day without thinking about Noah Puckerman.